Genesis of Exodus
by dcworks1
Summary: 1 year after The Reaper War, things begin to return to normal. Shepard and Ashley celebrate their recent egagement and the newly found peace. However, an old foe returns to the universe and begins to upset the balanced order of things. Sequel to Endgame. MShep/Ashley.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you for checking out my fan fiction, Genesis of Exodus. It is the sequel to my previous story, End Game. I highly recommend you check it out, but it is not necessary. All major plot points and events will be explained as this story progresses. However, I encourage you to check it out.

I also appreciate any and all feedback given to me, this is my fourth fan fiction, my second big commitment one. So, feel free to leave a review, PM me, or anything else with questions, comments, or concerns about my story. I take all feedback fairly and equally, even if it's not implemented, it's still good advice.

So sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy Genesis of Exodus.

* * *

_**"**_

_**Corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst." -**_**David Hume**

* * *

It was a cool day on the beach. The sun gently peered over a single cloud in the sky. The waves majestically rolled over the sand, a brownish gold covered the entire beach. They hypnotically rolled back and forth, their sound coinciding with the cry of the seagulls. Nobody was in sight throughout the entire beach.

It had been exactly one year since the end of The Reaper Wars, a brutal slaughter of trillions of organic and synthetic lives by an ancient race of sentient starships called The Reapers. Despite the constant signs and warnings, particularly by Commander Shepard, they foolishly ignored the threat until they faced utter annihilation.

Luckily, Commander Shepard managed to escape Earth quickly after their arrival. He watched as his specie's planet, a four billion year old piece of the universe, was reduced to a rock of fire and dust. He travelled the galaxy, unifying everyone under the banner to save Earth and The Galaxy. They cured The Genophage, allowing a stagnant and dying species to rebuild; and they created peace between synthetics and organics, allowing for a lost home world to finally be reached and understand as well. They also built The Crucible, an ancient super weapon that held the key to defeating The Reapers.

Commander Shepard, along with the unified races of the galaxy, assaulted The Reapers on Earth, who had also captured and moved The Citadel there because of its link to The Crucible as a weapon. However, Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson managed to get aboard The Citadel, opening the arms to dock The Crucible. However, despite the victory, Anderson died from his wounds while Shepard managed to activate The Crucible. The Reapers fell, at the cost of the new synthetic allies as well, and the galaxy was saved and could rebuild.

Anderson was praised as a hero, a true martyr against overwhelming odds, and lead the resistance against The Reapers. The Alliance could rebuild with the other races, helping to bring about a new era of peace for the galaxy. The Relays, Citadel, and planets all destroyed from the war could be rebuilt. Earth itself, slowly regained strength. Within the first year, about twenty percent of the planet's ecosystem had returned and the cities were all being rebuilt.

Technology was still the same, The Crucible wiping out all Reaper technology and making it useless for any purpose other than scrap metal. However; medicine, science, and engineering were all entering a golden age of unity and prosperity. Synthetic body parts began to emerge, becoming a vision of a better future. Newer treatment methods could someday cure diseases like Kepral's syndrome. And newer post-war architecture and systems of irrigation and transportation would someday lined every colony of every empire.

This, like many things, was still a vision of a distant future, one that would require many roads of hard work and struggle. However, much like the endless waves of the beach, the vision of the future will always come and go.

A couple appeared on the beach, holding hands as they walked down it. They both were extremely happy, to be blessed with peace in their life and each other. The couple in question was Daniel Shepard and Ashley Williams. Both of them had been through so much and still had much to go through in life.

Ashley had been shot, strangled, assaulted, and beaten countless times during and after the war. She had fought the war on Earth, The Cerberus Skirmish in London about two months after the war, and struggled over Shepard's comatose state. However, her greatest challenge was the kidnapping of her sister. Though, after weeks of painstaking and restless investigation, she still couldn't find her sister. However, she still always had hope that she was out there, somewhere.

Shepard had to face his internal demons, his conscience decision of Ashley over Kaiden and the constant loss of life he experienced. He had lost his parents, his squad, his friends and yet he survived. He sacrificed over 300,000 Batarians to stall The Reapers and Trillions of synthetic lives to end The Reaper threat. It weighed heavily on him, the thoughts and guilt pushing him down every day.

However, despite all of that, he still found grace in the presence of Ashley. She was truly a good friend, and a good lover. She also found comfort in him, able to rectify everything in her life around him. So the two walked hand in hand down the beach, silently giving each other little looks of love.

Finally, Ashley spoke, "Something on your mind, Skipper?"

"No... just remembering all the good times we've had this past half year," Shepard said as he reminisced. Shepard was promoted to Captain officially since he woke up. He regained control of The Normandy, the crew happy at his return and as Ashley as his XO. The two helped to rebuild Earth and The Citadel, enjoying their newfound freedom from The Reapers. Another perk was that Ashley and Shepard now had a very enjoyable relationship. The two could talk to each other and confide in one another very easily. Shepard and Ashley also now enjoyed a very active sex life, something which had only occurred twice between each other within the past three years.

Shepard and Ashley were also engaged, something he did as soon as he could walk again. He arranged to sneak out of the hospital and meet her at The Tower Bridge in London. There, he proposed and became the happiest he had ever been in the past three years.

"Normandy is really beautiful, especially now that it's back to its natural form," said Ashley as they walked down the beach.

"Yeah, just glad you're here to enjoy it with me," he said as he looked out towards the blue sea. "There's still a lot of work to be done, especially in Africa and Asia, but it's nice here." Shepard looked as Ashley bent over to pick up a shell. She looked at it, feeling the small grooves along her soft fingers. Then, tossed it aside as she went to kiss Shepard.

Shepard broke the kiss after a short period, "What was that for?"

"Nothing," giggled Ashley, "Just a bit of preview for what's to come tonight."

Shepard smiled, resuming to walk down the beach with Ashley's hand.

"We'll, I'd wish that was now, but we are meeting some people here," said Shepard as they came upon a small little hill right off of the beach. Not at all big, but just enough to give them a good look over the beach. Shepard and Ashley sat down on the grass, looking out at the sea.

A small shuttle ran across the horizon, dragging some form of pillar along the skyline. It reminded them both of the nearby construction of Paris, the site of the anniversary of The Reaper War. Paris was mostly fixed, along with several other cities like Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Beijing, and Los Angeles. However, London was still in ruins, most Reaper forces decimating the entire city and carving it up for Human transportation and slaughter.

Then, a voice came from behind the two. "Hey," the deep voice said as they turned around to see Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy approach them. Shepard got up to give Garrus and bro hug and Tali a hug to.

"Good to see you two again," said Shepard, "It's felt like forever."

"Well, it's only been a month, but glad to see you too!" said Tali as she waved at Ashley.

"So Garrus did you bring the stuff?" asked Shepard.

"Three regular human beers,; two Turian beers, one of them triple filtered for the lady; and a Rhyncol for the big guy," said Garrus as he brought out several bottles. Garrus then looked over to see Wrex coming up the hill.

"Wrex," said Shepard as he met eyes with him.

"Shepard," Wrex simply responded, "So, you Humans really got this place back up and running by the looks of it."

"I suppose the million years of radiation on Tuchunka isn't that fixable," said Garrus.

"No, but we're Krogan, we can do whatever we want with that ball of dirt," said Wrex, "Besides, the new planets regained from The Council should suffice, we got back that old mining one after threatening to eat The Salarian Councilor," Wrex chuckled.

"I still feel that you could've made a great Councilor Wrex, and you two Tali," Shepard said as he looked at them. The Council had been reorganized in a more even manner following the war. Each species got one representative, except for The Ranchi who refused and only wanted to live in peace and alone. They were all offered positions, but all of them declined the positions.

"I'm more happy just leading the people on Tuchunka than in a meeting room," Wrex said, "Politics piss me off..."

"I think that's really why we all declined," said Shepard, "Besides, I think Sanders makes a great councilor along with your Aunt Tali," said Shepard.

"She certainly has enough experience," said Tali, "Maybe not with The Vorcha or Batarians, but we're all learning." "It's weird having your home world back, especially after only hearing about it as a myth for your entire life."

Then, Liara began to run up the hill, knowing she was late for the meeting. "Sorry, I had some other business to attend to," she interrupted as she reached the group.

"No problem," said Shepard as they all began to take their drinks. "Well... it's been a hell of ride you guys, and it's all over," he said with a smile. "And I couldn't have asked for a better crew to fight beside me than you." Shepard raised his bottle, "So here is to you guys! They bravest men and woman this galaxy has ever seen." They all took a drink, gulping down the cool liquid as they enjoyed their freedom.

"Ahhh," Garrus said as he stopped drinking, "So, the wedding is in two months, right?" Garrus asked as he looked at Shepard.

"Yeah, that's what we're planning," said Shepard, "We got the catering and locations done, we're finishing the invitations and finalizing some details." Shepard looked at Ashley.

"Well, I'm happy for you two, you deserve happiness after everything," said Liara.

"Well, so do you," said Shepard, "Garrus and Tali are a couple, and Wrex already has a kid."

"Two actually," said Wrex, "Krogan pregnancies last two months and we can pop them out real fast."

"Wait, two months?" Ashley said, "Damn, lucky for your women, most of us have about a nine month commitment to it."

"Speaking of which, where's your spawn Shepard," asked Wrex as Shepard choked on his beer a little.

"Well...um, kids are... a ways off I would say," he said as he glanced at Ashley, "I mean, not that I wouldn't ever like one." He stumbled over his words, "Or three or even two is fine or you know..." Shepard took another drink from his beer. "It's in the works."

"Anyways, I've been looking over some data recently you should hear," Liara said, "It's about Cerberus."

"What is it?" asked Shepard, "These guys just won't die."

"I think they might have," said Liara, "I've found little trace of their presence, so they've either completely collapsed from economic depression or have gone completely dark, which would require a ton of money to even operate at that level of secrecy."

Ashley though about the conspiracy she was told by Mikhail, the leader of Cerberus. Mikhail was a young, around nineteen or even twenty now, yet smart individual. He had managed to get a ton of funding through The Alliance, documents signed by Admirals and even The President. She confronted them, showing them the proof of their deeds to them. However, all of them denied it, or told her they were forced into it. However, they shared no details about anything, shrouding her in darkness.

"They're dead either way," interjected Wrex, "Everyone hates them and always will." "Shame Anderson isn't here, he'd whoop their ass again."

"Yeah," Shepard said. Images of Shepard shooting Anderson under The Illusive Man's control and Anderson dying in his blood flew through Shepard's mind. He couldn't believe it still, that his mentor and friend had died by his hand. But then again, that was common occurrence in his life, people dying because of his actions or lack thereof.

Shepard looked around at the crew, finishing off the last of his beer. "Well, what have you all been up to? Anything new?" asked Shepard.

The crew looked around at each other.

"Not really," said Garrus, "We've all just been rebuilding and fixing things."

"I hear that," said Shepard, "It's been tough, seeing all that death and destruction." "Plus, the nightmares don't help."

"We all have nightmares," said Tali, "Everyone who had some sort of exposure to that much Reaper Indoctrination has been having some serious mental issues."

Liara interrupted, "About 95% of the existing population is having some sort of mental issues, whether it be nightmares, hallucinations, or even Schizophrenia."

"It's that bad," said Ashley, "God... even dead these things still are terrorizing us." "I've been having some trouble with loud noises, the sound just reminds me of their constant roaring and screeching as they laid waste to Earth."

Shepard leaned over to Ashley, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," he said as he comforted her.

"Yeah," said Ashley, "But what about you, you've been having some tough nights." "I hear you mumble about Anderson and about some kid all the time."

"I'm fine," said Shepard as he looked at the crew, "It's just been hard adjusting back to this life."

"Shepard, you've been around more indoctrination than anyone in this entire galaxy," said Liara, "By most studies, you should be dead or crazy." "I'm concerned that these problems are very dormant in your mind."

"They're not and I'm totally fine," said Shepard.

"Skipper, you keep mumbling about choices and these ghosts around you while you sleep," said Ashley, "When you were up on The Citadel, something happened." "The doctor's say your brainwaves are very off and something is still bothering you."

"It's nothing," said Shepard as he back slightly away, "I just need time to move on, from all this death."

"Shepard, The Geth and EDI dying are not your fault," said Tali, "You didn't know it would kill them, and where ever they are, I'm sure they would forgive you."

Shepard wanted to believe that, he so desperately wanted to, but he knew it wasn't true. He had rejected peace, and rejected control, all so he could destroy The Reapers. He had felt dirty afterwards, dirty about all of choices, his inability to sacrifice himself for the greater good, all because he was too afraid of what it would bring. Maybe there would be peace, maybe it was all true, but he would never know because of his selfish actions.

Shepard looked down at his feat, trying to hide his guild, "I know," he said, "I just need some time and some more sleep." Shepard looked back up with a smile on his face, "Thanks."

"Anytime," said Tali, "We're always here for you."

"So, we should get going into town, correct," Garrus said to Shepard.

"Yeah, me and Ash got to get going for the base back at London as well," Shepard said, "The Normandy is officially done with construction and we got a tour with The President."

"So, your just flying him around Earth," said Wrex, "Then ending at Paris for the BIG speech." "How long is this thing gonna be anyway?"

"I don't know... three or four hours?" said Liara.

"You aliens can talk so long, we Krogan need three minutes at most to inspire," said Wrex. "I'll be sleeping with Joker at the back of the crowd."

They all laughed as they parted ways again, waiting to see each other at the celebration. Ashley and Shepard took each other's hands again.

"So, Shepard, what is the new Normandy gonna be like?" asked Ashley.

"Well, there are gonna be actually walls and actual lights and maybe a pool?" joked Shepard.

"Well, hopefully the bed will still be there," Ashley joked back.

"I certainly hope so, I really like that bed better than the old one," said Shepard, "It's softer and got better sheets."

"Well... I've only been in the first bed once," said Ashley, "So I wouldn't really know."

"Any bed with you feels like heaven," said Shepard.

Ashley laughed, "You are so cheesy!"

Shepard responded, "You love it."

"I love you," said Ashley.

The two walked hand in hand, back down the beach. They walked over the same footsteps they originally made. They eventually arrived back at the shuttle, entering it and starting its engine. Ashley sat next to Shepard, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Shepard... can I ask something?" Ashley softly asked to Shepard.

"Sure," said Shepard as he looked over the vehicles instruments.

"What was that whole response to Wrex's question back there?" asked Ashley, "You know... the one about the kids."

"I...uhhhh," Shepard muttered as he looked out the window.

"Shepard," said Ashley in a somewhat demanding voice.

Shepard took a deep breath, "I just feel... like it's too soon," said Shepard, "It's not that I don't want one, but right now... isn't a good time!" He said in an increasing tone.

"Okay," said Ashley, "I didn't mean to make you upset..."

"I know," said Shepard, "It' just a lot to take in." Shepard took hold of the vehicle, taking off towards London.


	2. Chapter 2

Of all the places on Earth after The Reaper War, none suffered more than London. The Reapers hit London directly, lead by Harbinger. It was there that they were first reported to The Alliance. It was there that they built the new conduit to The Citadel. It was there where they imprisoned millions of humans in camps. It was there that they made their last stand and it was there that they were defeated.

London had been saved, although it was far from its original state. Big Ben and The Parliamentary Building were in ruins. The various corpses of husks and Reapers littered the entire country side and the cities. Cleanup was a major effort, along with the rehabilitation and recreation of the city itself. However, due to the newfound peace and organized galaxy, it was much easier and quicker than expected. What was expected to be sixty year process was moved down to a little over forty years, after twenty years it would be almost recognizable as before.

Currently, the ruins still covered most of the city. The corpses had been mostly cleaned up and the smells and sounds of construction covered most of the city. Shuttles flew in and out, carrying various raw materials and products to be implemented into buildings. In the outlaying fields of the city was a large, metallic structure. Outside, docked right to the side of it, was The Normandy SR2.

A small shuttle appeared over the horizon, heading toward The SR2. It slowed down, docking on the side of the building. It was behind the Normandy's docking point, a small metal pathway connecting their docking points. The shuttle doors opened, Shepard and Ashley walked out of the shuttle.

"Wow," said Shepard as he stared at The Normandy, "Brand new coat of paint, brand new windows, and they fixed all those scratches up."

"It looks great," said Ashley as she began to walk towards The Normandy. Shepard followed her as she walked around, looking at the dark blue letters that spelled out NORMANDY. The two stood next to each other, simply looking onto their ship with smiles.

They both heard, after a few minutes, footstep slowly coming near them. They both turned to see the pilot of The Normandy approach them, Joker. "Hey there Captain... and Commander," he said to them.

"Joker," smiled Shepard, "It's been ages! How are you!"

"Great, spent six months freaking sitting around at a flight academy," he said, "I guess 'shore leave' wasn't as great as it was supposed to be."

"At least you got to sleep in, eat hot food, and not do anything," said Ashley.

"Yeah, but I wanna help these people, I just feel super lazy sitting around with all that work still needing to be done," said Joker, "Plus, all the things that you wanna do are gone." "You really can only get drunk so many times, and all the clubs and shops are... you know, destroyed."

Shepard laughed, "Well, at least we can get back to work." They trio began to walk towards the docking point of The Normandy, still talking.

"So, you two do anything fun over your break?" asked Joker.

"Eh..." Ashley grunted, "We pretty much just sat around as well."

The three walked up to the doors of The Normandy, it glowed with the shiny metal of its renovation. The air hissed as the door popped open and slowly slid open, revealing the air lock chamber and the entrance to the inner chamber.

However, once the three entered, Joker immediately interjected, "Holy shit it's bright in here!"

Shepard too was blinded by the light, fully expecting the dim blue that he had grown accustomed to before. Now it was a bright, fluorescent color, reminding him of The Normandy back during his suicide run with Cerberus. He looked at Ashley, whose eyes were still adjusting to the new lights. The three continued their journey into The Normandy.

"What the hell," Joker yelled out as he looked towards the front of The Normandy, "They took my door out!" He slowly walked to his chair, a sad look on his face as he examined all the changes of his cockpit. "They took out my customized flight computer programs... and the extra cup holder!" Things could not have gotten any worse for Joker, "Well... at least they kept the leather," he said as he got into his chair. Joker began wriggling around in his chair, "Seriously, they downgraded the leather! Shepard!"

"Joker," Shepard sighed as he approached him.

"Commander, or Captain actually, they ruined it," Joker said, "They took out all the cool stuff Cerberus had put in." "Look," he said as he began to press some buttons on his panel, "What is that?"

Shepard squinted and looked at it, "That appears to be rear camera... number 2?"

"Yeah, but look at that quality... it's shit," Joker said, "What happened to The Alliance that made them tear the ship apart?"

Suddenly a female voice popped out of the intercom at the two. "The SSV Normandy SR2 has been fully brought up to Alliance regulations and codes," said the voice in a high pitched, British accent.

"Who are you, exactly?" asked Shepard.

_"I am The Normandy's Virtual Intelligence, you may call me Jane," she immediately responded to Shepard. _

_"Well Joker, looks like you got a new friend," he said to Joker. The sudden memory of EDI and her demise at his hands flashed into his mind, poisoning him with guilt. However, he quickly supressed those feelings back inside of him._

_"Because Jane is totally like EDI," he said to Shepard as he turned around, "Hey Jane," Joker said out loud._

_"Yes flight Lieutenant," said Jane._

_"Do you have a soul?" Joker said._

_"I'm sorry, I am not capable of making such philosophical judgments," said Jane in a highly neutral manner, "I can give you examples of recent cases of your question or videos." "Also, it is required I mention that questions and actions that encourage the growth of Artificial Intelligence are strictly forbidden under Alliance Regulations 54.236, Citadel Council Regulations 2.78 and 2423.91, and the more recent Artificial Intelligence Act of 2187 passed by all governments of Council races."_

_Joker chuckled, "My god am I gonna have fun with this."_

_"Joker, I don't want you accused of crimes your first day back on the job," Shepard said._

_"Relax, they aren't gonna kick out the greatest pilot of The Alliance," said Joker, "I'm not like touching kids or anything!"_

_"Okay... that's a little disturbing," said Shepard, "I'm gonna go over here," he motioned as he began to walk away._

_"I'll be right here, just bugging the VI," Joker said. Shepard laughed a little as he began walking down the CIC. The crew was still a skeleton crew, only about a third of the terminals were in use. Shepard walked around the large hologram of The Normandy, now set up to display the Eezo channeling of the ship. He walked around to a familiar face, Communications Specialist Traynor._

_"Oh, Commander," she said as he walked up to her, "Captain!" she quickly said as she realized her mistake, "Sorry, still getting used to it."_

_"No problem, still getting Commander from everyone else," Shepard said, "So, how's the ship holding up?"_

_"It's going great, we set up a third quantum entangler in the communication room," Traynor joyful spouted out, "It was part of a plan to be able to have the our councilors, before the reconstruction, to all be able to easily chat from their various fleets." "It's actually quite a piece of work, it requires a multi-leveled channel feed to the main..." She stopped as she noticed that she had immediately lost Shepard in the technical aspect of things._

_"Oh! I'm sorry," Shepard apologized, "I'm not the best at following the whole, science of things." "Anyways, how is the rest of the ship looking?"_

_"Well, the bedroom is complete," said Traynor, "I believe that's where your fiancé went." "The Crew Deck is mostly the same, except EDI's parts were taken out for burial at the mass synthetic gravesite on Rannoch and Liara's room is now a XO's room again." "It'd be where Ashley would sleep if she wasn't sleeping with you... you know what I mean." _

_"What's in the old AI Core?" asked Shepard._

_"It's actually now the home of some newer technology for The Normandy's cybernetic warfare suite," she said, "With EDI's death, uh, we lost our entire cybernetic warfare power, so we needed some newer non-AI tech."_

_"That pretty much cover's that deck, The Engine Level is also the same, Diana Aller's room and Javik's room are now just storage." "Are either of them coming back?" she asked Shepard._

_"Diana has a better job with ANN and Javik... left us," Shepard struggled to word his suicide rightly. _

_"Oh..." Traynor said, "That's sad." There was a brief moment of silence between their conversation, "The Cargo Bay is exactly the same, except Vega is gone doing his N7 stuff, so his weights just are kinda gathering dust."_

_"Thanks for the update Traynor," said Shepard, "Glad to see everything is going pretty well back here."_

_Traynor smiled, "Other than the lights, everyone is happy, I even got my toothbrush back."_

_"That's great," said Shepard._

_"Although, I think someone has been using it," Traynor said as she looked towards the front of The Normandy._

_"Eww," Shepard said as he walked towards the elevator, opening up for him to enter. He stepped in, pressing the button for his quarters. He waited for a slight period of time before the doors opened again, revealing the same metal area before his quarters. He stepped up to the door, opening it up and stepping in._

_The room reminded him of his old quarters back with Cerberus, the light bringing back fond memories of nostalgia. Shepard looked at his fish tank, "What the... he said as he went up to it." The tank was empty, not a single fish in it. He then looked at his glass case, horror still coming into his mind. It was just then that Ashley walked into the room, seeing the look of distress on Shepard._

_"Are you okay, Skipper?" she asked as he ran over to the case._

_"My ships... they're all gone, along with my fish, the books I had..." he then saw the worst thing of all, "They took Boo!"_

_"Boo?" Ashley quizzically stated._

_"Boo! My hamster!" said Shepard, "You know!" he said as he motioned towards the empty shelf where Boo once sat. Shepard sat in the chair at the desk in front of the empty glass case. "I spent hours building and painting those models, and feeding those fish, and Boo!"_

_"Shepard... it's a hamster, we can get a new one," Ashley sighed, "You're not two."_

_Shepard looked at Ashley, "I know... it's just that I don't understand where they could have taken them."_

_Then, the voice of the V came over the intercom, "The Collectibles were taken to Alliance headquarters for destruction," said Jane, "They violated many of the Alliance regulatory codes, especially what was referred to as 'that screaming head.'"_

_"Well that's just great," said Shepard. He got up and went over to his bed, falling over onto it. He laid there as Ashley walked over and sat on the bed next to him._

_"Shepard," she said, "It's okay."_

_"I know," said back, "I'm just tired of all the politics of this."_

_"We all are, but it comes with job unfortunately," said Ashley, "At least we're Spectres, so that helps." _

_"True," Shepard said as he sat up next to Ashley, locking eyes with her. "You know, being a Spectre does have another advantage," he seductively said as he slid his hand unto hers._

_"What?" she seductively asked back. _

_"There's technically no rule against fraternization... even on an Alliance vessel," he said as he kissed her slightly on the lips. "So, we can do whatever we want."_

_"As much as I would love that," she purred back at him, "We do have to take The President around the world today..." Shepard's smile turned back into a frown as he remembered why they had come back aboard The Normandy._

_"Don't fret Skipper, I'm gonna rock your world later," she said as she got up and walked away from Shepard. His eyes were glued on her behind as she walked out of the room._

_"Damn," he said as he fell back onto the bed._

* * *

_*3 hours later*_

_Shepard and the crew were all in The CIC, all of the officers were dressed in their uniforms and such. Shepard wore several medals along in his Captain's coat. They all eagerly awaited the boarding of The President onto The Normandy. _

_The ship had taken off about an hour ago, leaving for Washington D.C. immediately. They waited for a short while there, going through various check-ins and safety inspections. The protection of The President had been beefed up for unknown reasons, with three times as many guards and regular shift changes to assure that each body guard was ready to fight his best._

_Several news reporters were on The Normandy, carrying only the clothes on their backs and their cameras. They had taken countless photos of Shepard, the crew, and even of the ship itself. Shepard watched as they scoured around, looking for something new or something they missed._

_The doors to the airlock opened, revealing four heavily armed guards escorting an older gentleman in a black suit. "Attention!" one of the guards said as they entered the ship. The president looked around, admiring the stout and loyal troop of the ship._

_"At ease," he said as the crew began to relax. He walked up to Joker, who was standing right next to his post. Joker was wearing a more official flight uniform, mirroring The Alliance Officer uniform. He stood as straight as he could, his syndrome still affecting him. He had refused to shave, but had trimmed his beard for the occasion._

_The president walked up to The Flight Lieutenant, "Lieutenant Monreau," said The President as he shook his hand. He turned towards the camera, smiling for the publicity shots that ensued as they stood next to each other. The President broke the handshake, turning towards and making eye contact with Shepard._

_He walked up to Shepard, who saluted back at The President. "At ease Captain," The President said. He turned to the camera, stating, "If anybody should be saluting anybody, it ought to be the people of this galaxy to you!" The President saluted Shepard, who simply nodded at the gesture of The President. Shepard knew the entire thing was just a big publicity stunt, hoping to get him re-elected within the next couple months._

_"All right, let's not waste anymore time," said The President, "You can all get back to your duties at running this ship and prepare for takeoff!" He smiled for the camera as he tried to appear energetic and compassionate towards the crew. However, he then looked at Ashley, who he turned away from the press to speak to her._

_"Commander... I would like to speak with you, privately in the conference room," he said as he turned away to head for the conference room. Ashley was nervous, not knowing what sparked this conversation or what would happen. She quickly followed as she was stopped at the checkpoint by his guards, who searched her again. She got through, going into the soundproof room with The President. The guards stood outside the room, looking outward to give them privacy. _

_The President spoke first, "Williams, we need to talk about your conversation with Hackett." She then realized this was about the funding she had received from Cerberus. She had checked the numbers and facts over and over again, but each time they still pointed to conspiracy and fraud._

_"Mr. President," said Ashley, "I need answers," she demanded, hoping not to offend The President. "How is it that I have found papers, linking you and all The Admirals to a massive funding project for Cerberus?"_

_"Commander," The President sighed, "It is in the best interest that I must tell you to stop investigating." "We have cut all of those funds to Cerberus immediately after your conversation with Hackett."_

_"I still need to know why you did it," she said._

_"We were threatened, at gunpoint," The President said, "Mikhail had us cornered of a crashing ship, we needed to follow his plan to survive."_

_"Bullshit," she interjected, "You could have used that data to destroy them, but you didn't."_

_"Williams, they threatened my family and their safety," he scolded, "I received countless emails and messages telling me how they would die and their agony!" "You have no idea what it is like to see your family put in that situation!"_

_"I do," she said, "And one of them still is." The room grew silent before Ashley spoke again, "So is Cerberus dead, or at least wounded?"_

_"I'm not sure," said The President, "They've gone dark, only spotting up in some extremely vague conflicts." "They either are down to the bare minimum of their resources or they are powerful enough to go back underground." "I would say to former over the latter, they have no more Alliance fronts, which was their entire income."_

_"What about Mikhail?" asked Ashley._

_"He will pop up," said The President, "And then we'll kill him in some black ops raid or missile attack." "It's no problem, one man won't hide from us forever."_

_Ashley felt slightly relieved, "Good..anything else?"_

_"NO," said The President, "Although... I need you to keep this from Shepard."_

_"With all due respect, Shepard needs to know," said Ashley._

_"No, he doesn't," The President simply stated back, "If he learns of this, it could break his spirit or hope." "He's a frail man, and a highly damaged one." "You can see it in his eyes, that cold, dark pool of death and destruction still looms, like a shadow of himself." _

_"I...I think I understand sir," said Williams._

_"Good, then we should get back to the deck, the crew will be wondering why we left," he said as he opened the doors of the conference room and left. Ashley shortly followed behind, re-entering The CIC. The President was conversing with the staff, hoping to get some more positive publicity. Shepard approached her._

_"Hey, what was that all about?" he asked her._

_"He just wanted to see how our second Spectre was holding up," said Ashley, "Usually political ally bullshit."_

_"Figures," said Shepard, "He's been all over the press today." "We gotta drop him off all over this planet before we get to Paris."_

_"It's gonna be along day," groaned Ashley._

* * *

_*7 hours later*_

_The President speech was wrapping up in Austin, Texas. He stood on a podium above a large crowd, proclaiming how we won the terrible was against The Reapers. The Normandy was docked on the platform, waiting for The President to re-board before they took off for Paris._

_"And I assure you, that I will lead us into a new golden era of peace and understanding!" The President proclaimed as he was cheered on by the crowd below. He smiled and waved, then turned around to re-board The Normandy again. _

_Shepard, Ashley, Traynor, Joker, and Chakwas were all in the cockpit, playing a round of Skillian Five. They looked as they saw The President re-board and they stopped to return to their stations._

_"How long was that one?" asked Ashley._

_Joker looked at a timer in the corner of his screen, "Thirty Eight Minute and Twenty Three Seconds," he said to her._

_"At least we got one left," Shepard said._

_"That's gonna be like five hours long," groaned Joker._

_Shepard walked back to the CIC, talking to Ashley along the way. The ship took off from its port, flying quickly over the ground and out to the sea. They had to take it slow, a new shift change for the escort fighters was about to arrive. Joker softly flew The Normandy across a seemingly endless horizon of sparkling blue._

_"Uh, Flight Escort 93, you are free to take off, Flight Escort 42 is here for the rest of the trip," said a voice over the intercom._

_"This is Flight Lieutenant Monreau approving the transfer, Escort 93?"_

_"This is Flight Escort 93, all signs are green," said a female voice over the intercom, shift change is now in effect."_

_Joker watched as the current fighters slowly left his radar as newer ones began to take their place. Then, suddenly, one of the fighters flew over the top of The Normandy, almost grazing it. _

_"Hey! watch it!" Joker said, "God, you think these Presidential Pilots would know how to fly!" Joker looked unto a screen that popped up, he was confused over what the box said. "Hey, Shepard, come here!" _

_Shepard walked across The CIC to Joker, "Yeah?"_

_"I'm getting a weird reading from these sensors," said Joker, "It's says that there are a bunch of pieces of debris on the hull." "I think that fighter hit us," said Joker._

_"I'm sorry," said one of the guards who approached the two, "Attention Flight Escort 42, we are getting some unusual hull readings on The Normandy, do you see anything out of the ordinary?"_

_The fighters quickly responded, "Negative, we see nothing unusual on the hull, that fighter might have grazed the top or something."_

_"They keep moving," said Joker, "Look, this one is heading for the front window here," he said as he pointed it out on the screen. Shepard watched as the dot got closer and closer to the front, the guard pulled his gun out and told them to guard The President._

_Then, a small piece of metal rolled of the front, flying down into the ocean._

_"Oh thank god," said Joker, "For a minute, I thought..."_

_Then, the window shattered opened as a figure propelled into the ship, revealing a long sword in one hand and pistol in the other. The figure revealed itself to be a Cerberus Phantom as it dove towards the guard who was shooting it. Shepard was tossed a pistol to help fight off the phantom. However, as they finally killed it, the guard had died from a slit to the throat._

_Joker, "Shepard, we got more on the hull, I think they are placing bombs to blow the wings!" _

_"Get us out here!" Shepard screamed as another phantom broke through the top of the ceiling in The CIC. _

_"I can't, these fighters have us boxed in!" Joker exclaimed as he tried to escape._

_Then, a huge blast tore open a huge spot in The CIC, the port side corner. Shepard watched as a shuttle, with a clearly marked Cerberus logo on it, opened up to reveal three huge shields guarding a group of Cerberus troops as they entered The Normandy._

_Shepard watched as Ashley and a few others flanked them and began to cause a disarray in their formation. However, he needed to protect Joker so the ship could still fly. Shepard shot several bullets into the head of a phantom, which feel immediately to the ground dead._

_Then, Shepard looked to see the airlock door open, someone had docked with the ship midflight. He pointed his gun at the doorway, expecting to see a group of troops come pouring in. However, he was taken by surprise as his gun was overloaded by a single man._

_The man was very young, could not have been more than twenty. He had slick black hair that had been compressed from a helmet he recently had been wearing. He was wearing the basic armor of all Cerberus Troops, the dirty lines of orange and black along with the rusty white of the armor clashed. He looked Shepard in the eyes, finally glad to see him._

_"So," said Shepard, "You must be Mikhail."_

_"Yes," said Mikhail, "And you are the legendary Commander Shepard." "Hero of The Citadel, Defeater of The Collectors, and Killer of The Reapers." He pulled a knife out of its holder around his waist, "I have waited so long to challenge you."_

_Shepard watched as the kid approached him, holding a knife in a very firm manner. However, Shepard had been trained in knife combat, and quickly was able to disarm him and throw the knife aside. He then landed several punches against Mikhail, nearly knocking the kid out._

_"Okay," Mikhail said as he pulled himself together, "Let's," was all he was able to get out before Shepard took a swing at him with his gun, shattering it and knocking Mikhail out._

_"Why didn't you shoot him?" asked Joker, "The gun only overloads for like a minute!"_

_Shepard stopped, "Dang it... it was the heat of the moment. " "Besides The Alliance is gonna have funny interrogating him."_

_A voice came over the intercom, "Warning, complete engine failure, evacuate immediately." After hearing the news, Joker immediately drove the ship as far up the atmosphere as he could. He then pressed some buttons, disabling the artificial gravity._

_"Joker!" screamed Shepard, "What are you doing?"_

_"I'm saving us , that's what," he said as he turned the ship downward, creating a free fall from space back towards the ocean. Now that the gravity was disabled, Shepard grabbed Joker along with Mikhail, who both were now floating due to the free fall, and moved towards the nearest escape pod._

_"Shepard," Ashley said as popped out of the escape pod, "Give me Joker and let's go!" _

_"Where's The President," asked Shepard._

_"He's coming, let's go!" said Ashley as she tugged on Shepard._

_Shepard handed Joker over and was about to hand Mikhail over, when Mikhail jolted up and stabbed Shepard in the back of his right shoulder with and Omni-blade. Shepard screeched from the pain of molten plasma tearing through his skin and bone._

_Mikhail swam up, grabbing a gun from out of his secondary holster and waited for the door leading to the conference room to open. Shepard was grabbed by Ashley who then strapped him i to the seat next to him, still wincing in pain. The door opened and the president popped out to get to an escape pod._

_"Mikhail!"exclaimed the president who now had a gun on him. Mikhail flew to him, holding the gun to his head._

_"You think my death will further your goals?" The President remarked._

_"...yes," said Mikhail as he shot The President straight through the head. The President's body floating through the air as did the blood. Mikhail was soon rejoined by a Cerberus shuttle that was following the ships fall. He was tossed a cable as the doors opened, allowing him to get to safety. _

_Before the doors closed, he waved goodbye to the crew and left. Ashley, who was still in shock, pressed the escape pod button. the doors closed as the pod shot out towards the vast ocean._


	3. Chapter 3

The escape pod was dimly lit, only a couple of small red lights were placed inside of it. The pod, which had just ejected from the crashing Normandy, was shaking as it flew through the air. The crew had filled the seats , which consisted of Shepard, Joker, Ashley, Traynor, one Secret Service agent, and the rest of the seats filled with The Normandy's crew. They all were in shock, still taking in what had happened.

Then, the impact of the water hit. The velocity of the pod had suddenly stopped as it submerged itself in water. It, then floated back up to the surface just as soon as it hit the water. The crew shook along with the pod, all of them sideway as the pod floated in the water. They didn't know how long their rescue would take, but they had no way of communication due to the damages the pod had taken and their sudden departure from The Normandy.

Shepard was wounded, he had taken an Omni-Blade in his right shoulder, and still cringed in pain. Ashley looked up at him, she had sat next to him which had become the seat under him.

"Are you okay Skipper?" asked Ashley.

"Yeah," he managed to grunt out, "I could use a band-aid right now!" Shepard began to look at his shoulder, the skin had been burned right through along with the bone. "That's worst than I thought."

The Secret Service agent looked up, he was at the very bottom of the pod. He had been wearing a suit, something synonymous with The Secret Service. He took of the coat of his suit, balling it up and tossing it up to Shepard. "Here," he said, "Bandage that wound up, help will be here soon enough."

"Thanks," Shepard said as he wrapped the coat tightly around his shoulder. "How was that kid still conscience after that blow?" Shepard blurted out.

Joker, who was sitting across from Shepard at the top, responded, "I honestly have no clue," he said, "You nailed him right in the jaw, that's a kill shot!" "And yet he still was able to kill The President!"

"Don't remind me," The Secret Service agent said, "It was my job to protect him, and failure at my job means a fate worse than death." "If I'm lucky, I'll get blacklisted and let go, maybe reassigned to some janitorial job at headquarters."

The Secret Service agent looked across from him, Traynor was sitting across from him and appeared ill. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she softly said, "I'm just really sick... oh god, why won't these waves stop!"

Joker interjected, "Please don't throw up, because then everyone is gonna throw up... and gravity isn't going to bode well with you guys below!" Joker looked at Shepard and sighed, "This is the second Normandy we've lost."

Shepard tried to cheer Joker up, "At least you got to the escape pod and I didn't die...again."

Joker looked down, "Doesn't make me feel any better." Joker looked at the screen above him, "We don't have anyone in our radar," he said. "They are more than likely just realizing that we are late to the one year anniversary celebration..."

"How long do you think it is going to take?" asked Ashley to Joker.

"Well... they'll send out a look out party, then look for The Normandy... maybe... twelve minutes?" said Joker.

Ashley looked up at Shepard who was breathing very deeply and quietly as he had his eyes closed. "Skipper, stay with me..." she said to him.

"I know," he said, "It just freaking hurts!"

The crew stayed silent for the next ten minutes, only exchanging the briefest of words to one another. They sat in their chairs, slowly rocked back and forth by the waves of the ocean. Finally, they heard a shuttle lowering down from outside the sky. The heard a clunk on the outside of the pod, knowing it was a person. The door was hacked open, revealing a man in alliance armor and looking into the pod.

"I've got Shepard, Williams, some of the crew, and an agent," said the man into his Omni-tool. "Do any of you know what happened to the president."

"Dead," said the agent, "Killed via a gunshot from a pistol to the head from a Cerberus agent."

"Not just any agent, the leader of Cerberus," said Shepard.\ as he clenched his wound, "He got me in the arm with an Omni-blade."

"Did you get that?" softly asked the man into his Omni-tool.

A voice came over the Omni-tool a few seconds later, "Roger..." was all it said.

The crew was helped out, one by one. They had several ships flying over the sky, looking for more pods and the possible remains of The Normandy. Shepard was taken out as he was comforted by a medical doctor on the shuttle. Ashley helped, along with the agent, to rescue others out of the pod as they were loaded into shuttles.

Once they were loaded, the shuttles took off. The crew sat in silence as they listened to the announcements over the television. Everyone was in shock and grieving over this sudden attack of violence against their heroes. The celebration was canceled and people exited the streets to return home.

The news was speculating on who could have done this and why. However, being behind the scenes, The Normandy crew knew about everything that had happened and, for the most part, why. Cerberus did it for power and as a statement of their return.

The pilot broke the silence; saying, "We are headed to Alliance HQ at Paris, you'll meet up with others there as you plan your next strategy of attack."

The nurse who was tending to Shepard spoke, "Your gonna need some minor surgery on this, but you'll be back up and running within a few hours." She tightened Shepard's wound, making him shudder at the extreme amount of pain he felt within his entire right arm. Ashley leaned over to comfort him, her touch seemingly making everything better.

The ride was long, and only the chatter of radio communication occasionally filled the air. The shuttle flew into Europe, the recently new flora and animals graced the countryside. The city of Paris then appeared, large crowds of people were scattered throughout the city. Everyone was still taking in the news. New reporters had just broke the news and the entire galaxy was hanging on what the future of The Alliance Parliament.

The shuttle headed towards a large building, a curved architecture ran along the outline of it. A large-blue Alliance symbol was plastered on the side. Ships were flying in and out of the building, still looking for Cerberus and The Normandy. The shuttle slowed down, lining itself up with the nearest open docking station. A loud click paired with a slight shuffle signified that the ship had docked. The doors hissed as they opened up to The Alliance base.

Shepard stood up, still holding his shoulder as the rest of the crew got out as well. A couple of medical doctors greeted Shepard as he was taken away to the medical center. Ashley watched as he went off, hoping that he would be okay. She walked forward, into a large doorway that led to the entrance of The Alliance base.

The building was a whitish chrome; creating an Asari-Human hybrid of architectural style. The building was packed, the couple receptionist tables below had lines of ten to thirty people wanting to talk to various officials. Reporters were reporting at the entrance of the building, trying to get the opinions of people passing by. Ashley stood on a balcony above the lobby. She walked forward, trying to figure out where to go. She had no direction or no idea of who to talk to.

Just then, a man in an officer's uniform approached her.

"Commander Williams," he stated to her, "Admiral Hackett and the others are in the meeting room on floor seven." saluted back as he left to attend his other duties.

She approached the nearby elevator, pressing the button to summon it. She waited a little bit, finally opening to have several people pour out of the elevator. She got in it, still several others in it with her. She pressed the button for seven.

The ride was short, the elevators had been sped up to provide quick access through the base. She stepped out to the seventh floor, it was a long white hallway with several meeting rooms. She walked down the hallway, looking for where the meeting was being held. Eventually, she found where it was, the large circular briefing room. It had similar design as the war room from The Normandy, the exception was it was larger and didn't have a separate communications hub.

She stepped in seeing some familiar faces. Admiral Hackett was there, along with a couple of other Admirals. Garrus was there along with Liara, Wrex, and Tali. They were all waiting in silent for her to get to the center.

"Admirals," she saluted at them.

"At ease Williams," one of the Admirals said. "We are dealing with the biggest shit-storm in recent months."

"Where's Shepard?" asked Garrus.

"He was injured in the fight," she said, "He's getting fixed up, he'll be here soon."

Just then, the door opened to reveal Shepard. His shoulder was bandaged up, but he seemed to not be in much pain. He walked down the steps, greeting The Admirals with a nod and sat next to Garrus.

"Admiral," Shepard said as he looked at Hackett, "Do we know how Cerberus found us?"

"It's not that hard," said Hackett, "They probably just hung around the atmosphere and scanned for you." "You didn't have your stealth mode on, and you were giving public speeches." "We are still wondering how they infiltrated our air force."

"Cerberus loves sleeper agents," said Ashley, "The Citadel Coup and Mars should have proved that."

"True, but I thought we had all of Cerberus destroyed," said Liara, "I was there at the assault on their base, they seemed disorganized and done for."

"Yes, but they seemingly made a huge return," said Admiral Price, one of the admirals along with Hackett, "I don't know how they managed to secure that deep of a hold on our organization."

Ashley looked at Price, and said nothing. Her look said it all, she knew what had happened and why they returned. That their resources were Alliance backed, and worse, by the same Admirals in the room. Price met her gaze, simply looking away to hide his guilt.

"We can get to that later," said Hackett, "I wanna know why did they kill The President."

Shepard interjected, "Fear... maybe as a message." "All I know is that we need to take these guys out, and fast."

Just then, the admirals received a message from the outside. Hackett took it on a private channel, simply nodding as he heard the message. He listened for a good ten or fifteen minutes before it ended. He hung up, looking towards the crew.

"They found The Normandy," said Hackett, "It's badly damaged and was flooded with sea water, but it'll be months before it's back up and running."

"Damn," Garrus said, "Cerberus means business if they can do that to an advanced stealth ship."

"Also, something else was happening on The Normandy," Hackett said. "They apparently were trying to find something."

"Find what?" asked Shepard.

"A data file," Hackett replied, "Cerberus was looking for a package within The Normandy's computers, but failed to find it."

"What was the file?" Tali asked. "Was it from the diplomatic channels to and from The Normandy?"

"No, it was the files you found on Mars," Hackett said, "They have all been deeply hidden within government computers." "The entire file, the original, is with The Asari Government." He looked at Liara, along with the rest of the crew.

"Why would Cerberus want that?" asked Liara, "It contains details on The Crucible and some Reaper information, but nothing else."

"Cerberus probably thinks it's got weapon data, stuff to rebuild The Reapers and their technology," Shepard speculated.

"And that's why they attacked the ship," said Ashley, "Kill The President and obtain a bunch of info on advanced weaponry." "Sloppy work, even for Cerberus."

Shepard looked at Liara, "Liara, you need to delete that data."

"What?" she asked.

"There's still encrypted files on it, right?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, heavily encrypted, but."

"But nothing Liara, your government hid Prothean tech from all of us before, and it nearly killed all of us," Shepard said, "The best thing to do is delete it, make sure it'll never fall into the wrong hands."

"I can't do that Shepard," said Liara, "My government is heavily researching that data, it is in a safe location and protected." "It has about as much chance of falling into Cerberus hands as it would here."

The Admirals looked at one another, "We really can't enforce you to delete it, as long as you are not withholding information from The Council."

"Shepard," Liara pleaded to him, "I promise nothing bad will happen."

"I know," he said, "I just worry."

"Also," Hackett said as he pulled up the galaxy map for the room, "We were also able to figure out where the locations of many of Cerberus's bases are."

"How did you managed that?" asked Shepard.

"The Cerberus troops apparently don't know how to encrypt their data," Hackett said, "So, we were easily able to extract the data." Hackett pointed to several systems that popped outward from the galaxy. "There are several bases around the outer rim of the galaxy, mainly within The Terminus Systems." "They all are small, mainly devoted to troop brackets and minor ship repair." "This one is an R&D Lab."

"That's pretty big for an R&D," said Tali, "That must be a main base."

"Wait," said Ashley, "That's the base!" "Back on Kahje, when I was looking for my sister, I was looking for a base in that location." "I found no traces of life or discovery in that area."

Shepard looked at Ashley, "Do you think she's there?"

"I don't know," said Ashley, "But if Cerberus had ties to inter-galactic sex trafficking, then I wouldn't be surprised."

"Well I guess that raises the stakes then," said Hackett as he looked at the crew, "I take it you want to lead the charge there?"

"Obviously," said Shepard as he looked at his crew, "You guys up for one more run at Cerberus."

"Sure," Garrus said, "After Saren, The Collector's, and The Reapers; I think this will be a walk in the park."

Liara nodded at Garrus, signifying her willingness to join.

"I'm getting to old for this," said Wrex, "But it seems like old times, and I like it." "Just as long as we aren't at gunpoint again Shepard."

Shepard chuckled, "Of course."

"I guess I have no choice," said Liara, "I guess we are off to the base then."

"Yes," said Shepard, "I guess we are."

"One last thing before you go," said Hackett, "It has to do with The President's death." The crew looked at Hackett as they were turning away. "As you know, we have an election within the next couple of months, and the Vice-President, or rather President, isn't running," said Hackett.

"So whose running?" asked Shepard.

"We have two major parties, Terra Firma and The Alliance Party," said Hackett, "They'll decide their candidate within the next couple of weeks, but we need our candidate." "A couple of people were suggesting... you Shepard."

Shepard awkwardly looked at Hackett," No offense sir, but I hate politics," said Shepard. "I'm sure you'll be able to find another candidate."

"I'll run," Admiral Price spoke up, "I have more than forty years of Alliance services under my belt, along with my service in The Reaper War." "I'll be a shoo on against those xenophobic bastards over at the Terra Firma party."

Shepard and his crew turned to leave, knowing that they had a bigger issue to solve than political alliances.


	4. Chapter 4

Shepard sat in the seat of the shuttle, awaiting his destination. He sat in between Ashley who was on his right and Tali who was on his left. He was dressed in his new N7 armor, which was almost the same as his old pair that was burned to a crisp by Harbinger's beam, but with a=some slight upgrades in durability and flexibility. The N7 logo was still a bright and clear white along with the red insignia next to it. Ashley was wearing her dark blue armor as usual, the symbol of S1 still on it. Tali was wearing her suit, the purple and black cloth still lining it.

Across from them sat Wrex, Garrus, and Liara. Wrex wore his large, red, and scarred armor. Garrus wore his metallic armor he had wore during the events of The Reaper War. Liara was dressed in her white armor, the neck of her lab coat sticking somewhat out of the top of it. The all sat in silence, simply prepping weapons or counting the seconds.

They had just learned the location of several Cerberus bases from data they recovered from a dead body. While given the several locations, they chose to head to the largest of the bases, extrapolating that it was the main base of Cerberus's recent actions.

"Liara, have you dug up any new information on this base," asked Shepard as he broke the silence of the shuttle.

Liara pulled open her Omni-tool and began to go through the new data. "Well, from what we could tell, this one of Cerberus's earliest bases."

"Why didn't we know about this during The Reaper War?" asked Ashley.

"From what I can speculate, the base was a backup for the one we destroyed while rescuing Vendetta from Cerberus," Liara said, "The base is mainly underground on this planet, going about a mile down into the earth."

"What are we going to find there?" Garrus asked, "Weapons, Ships, Troops?"

"From what we can tell, it appears to be a large R&D department for Cerberus," said Liara, "Although, it has the capacity to be the center of operations for Cerberus."

Cortex interjected in the conversation, "We're just outside the LZ Captain."

Shepard looked over to him, "Okay," he looked at his team, "Let's get ready."

The shuttle landed on the planet. A small jerk signified it touching the ground. The crew tool their guns out, holding them at the ready position as the shuttle doors began to open. The light poured into the dim insides of the shuttle. The crew stepped out, one at a time, into the light.

The planet itself was not unlike Mars, except the texture had a greenish color to it. There was little source of fauna on the surface, a few dead shrubberies spotted the canvas around them. The sun peered slightly over the horizon, the bright orange contrasting the dimness of the green rocks. The terrain was graced with several mountains in the foreground, standing tall above the plateau they landed on.

About fifty feet in front of them, stood a gray cylindrical building. It must have had a diameter of about five hundred feet long and stood about twenty feet tall. The top was flat, several smaller circles were surrounding the outside of the building, more than likely exits for ships. There was a large antenna that stood on the top of the building, extending another ten feet up.

Shepard looked ahead, a few small doorways lined the perimeter of the building. They each had a small keypad next to them, with the common circular button to open the door in the center. The button was red, signifying that the door was locked. The doors also were extremely hard to see, showing their secrecy to the base.

Shepard looked at the building with the others, "How did we not notice this place?"

Liara answered, "Initially, we thought it was n abandoned weather station." Liara looked at the buildings antenna as well, "I guess it wasn't important while we were looking for The Catalyst."

The crew looked immediately to their left, the sound of several more Alliance shuttles appeared from out of the clouds. They zoomed towards the crew, slowing down as they descended to the ground. The doors slide open, the light illuminating each of the shuttles. Several squads of marines popped out, each of them designated with their own symbol and color. They were three human squads, one Salarian squad, one Turian squad, and one Asari squad.

A man approached Shepard as the others began to take position by the doors. "Captain Shepard, Lieutenant Green." He briefly saluted Shepard. "We have orders to take the base by storm, we'll lead the charge while you stay in the back."

"The back?" Wrex proclaimed, "I didn't come here to watch you rookies fight!"

The Lieutenant looked at Wrex, "This base is a giant maze of tunnels and chambers," said the Lieutenant, "You'll be able to diverge troops coming to flank us as we carve a path through one of the bases main paths." "Also, we suspect the leader of Cerberus is in here."

"Mikhail," proclaimed Ashley, "We got that bastard now!"

"Indeed," said Liara as they all got into position as charges were planted on the doors. Several troops signaled to one another that they were ready to blow the doors. The other troops made sure their guns were ready and that they were ready to burst through the door.

Then, in a sudden moment of pure adrenaline, several blasts pierced the shell of the building. The troops blew into the building, immediately erupting in a storm of gunfire. Shepard ran into the building, taking cover by a crate that was just outside the smoke of the chaos. He looked from the crate, firing several shots into the scattered troops of Cerberus.

The room was clearly a shuttle bay, several fighters and transport shuttles lay throughout the building. The troops were caught completely off guard, disregarding the perimeter breach signals as a glitch in the system. The managed to get into some defense, but the pure tactical and organized advantage that the invading troops overwhelmed Cerberus's troops. Shepard fired several more shots as he saw Wrex grab a Nemesis sniper with his hands and threw her towards another Nemesis, killing them both in a single shot from his shotgun. Liara threw a warp blast at an engineer, causing a large explosion from the turret he had on his back. The troops retreated to several small service elevators and some more doors on the interior of the building.

"Any casualties?" yelled Lieutenant Green at the others. All of them signified that they lost no troops at all. They reorganized and reloaded as they planned to go deeper into the base.

"Shepard," said Lieutenant Green as he reloaded his assault rifle, "We are heading down these few doors here, but we need you to head down this path," he said as he signified the door.

"Why?" asked Shepard

"The main path way is a large, spiral pathway that heads down to the main areas of the base," said Green, "However, we need you to cut the power so we can advance past their automatic defenses." "You'll need to go through these several laboratories to reach an exposed portion of the power conduits."

"Got it," said Shepard as he signaled his team to meet up at the door. They reached the door, looking as the others began to hack the other doors to the main pathway.

"Good luck Captain," said Green as they positioned themselves by the door. Shepard opened the door as they left for the power conduits. They entered a small hallway, no windows or anything towards the other door. Then, a small green light pierced through the darkness of the hallway, followed by an electronic voice.

"Decontamination in process, please hold still," said the voice as purification vapors entered the room.

"Great," said Tali, "The enemies gonna get the drop on us while we sit in the decontamination chamber."

"Just be ready," said Garrus as he positioned his sniper rifle at the door.

The door opened, the crew got ready for an ambush. However, there appeared to be no troops on the other side of the door. The slowly entered the lab, expecting a large ambush from Cerberus forces.

"This doesn't make any sense," said Liara, "You would expect that they would have prepared for a raid on their labs."

"They were caught off guard," said Shepard, "They are more than likely on their way already."

Shepard looked around for any useful data in the room. The data had about five different tables, each lined with microscopes, beakers, and instruments of dissection.

"Oh my god!" Ashley gasped as she looked at one of the tables, "These... these are babies!"

"I'm sorry?" Shepard said as he approached the table she was at, "Did you just say that they were dissecting babies?"

"Yeah," she still said with little breath in her voice, "They are human babies, but look at the cybernetic alteration in their bodies." She pointed at the heart, which had large amounts of nano-technology in it. The eyeballs, which were completely removed from the dissected head of the child.

"My god," said Shepard, "What the hell did they do to these kids?"

"Um, Shepard," Liara said as she approached a small group of machines on the other wall. Shepard and the crew approached as they looked down towards the machines, which appeared to be tanks of some-sort. Inside, were large groups of human embryos. There must have been thousands upon thousands that were inside the tanks.

"What the hell?" asked Ashley, "Is Cerberus growing troops?"

"Check this out," said Tali as she managed to activate a terminal near the tank. A large video screen projected upward, revealing a video log. In the log, Mikhail was standing near Claire Medford, the head of Cerberus's Phantom department and a known 'personal contact' of Mikhail, along with a couple other Scientists.

"Commander," said one of the scientist to Mikhail, "This is our breeding tanks," said the scientists as he showed off the tanks, "The DNA is designed to create ideal phantom soldiers for our army," he said, "They are all female, all of them designed to be fast and endure extreme amounts of pain?"

"Good," he said, "And as for the synthetic implementation?"

"We implant them after about the fetus grows to about seven months old, a feat which is possible in a week's time," said the other scientist to Mikhail, "The results are pleasing, we soon may not need those adult slaves for the phantom consortium."

"Perhaps," Claire said, "However, I expect many issues with the clones..."

The video ended there, the crew looked at each other.

"So?" Garrus said, "Cerberus is building a better human."

"It seems so," said Shepard, "It's just as bad, if not worse, than what they did at Sanctuary."

Just then, the door at the other end of the lab opened, a female figure stumbled out of the door. She was naked, covered head to toe in a clear gel that glistened with her synthetic skin. She was holding a pistol, pointing it at the crew. They pointed their guns up at her, hesitant to shoot her.

"Hello?" Shepard asked as she stumbled foreword. She had no response, only a small clump of goo fell out of her mouth. She stumbled forward some more, her body shaking from the cold of the room.

Just then, Wrex fired a shot, bowing the body across the room. It hit the wall, leaving a large blood splatter behind her.

"Wrex!" Shepard yelled, " We don't kill innocents!"

"She was about to kill you!" said Wrex, "You should be thanking me for saving your quad!"

"Whatever," he said, still frustrated over Wrex's actions, "We need to get to the power." Shepard and the crew headed towards the other door, going thorough to another laboratory. The room was similar to the other, except there were several pods, each containing women just like the one they just shot. One of the pods was drained, several small consoles beeping at the failure of the pod.

"Shepard," Garrus said, "It's another video log," he pulled up the selection of videos. "What are these... case studies?"

"Apparently," said Shepard, "play it."

The video popped up, in it sat a scientist between a table and one of the women who was dressed in phantom armor.

"Case number 237-1: word formation," said the man as he turned to the women, "Okay number 237, we are going to do a simple activity, okay," he said in a slow voice to the woman who was distracted by her hands as she moved the fingers between one another.

"Okay, look at the words," he said as he directed her towards the words," Can you tell me how you feel in a word please?" The word were in small little cards, each with a single letter one them. She picked up a single card, putting it down in front of her. She managed to slowly put a word together for the man.

He looked over at it, "hmmm... ubset?" he said as he pondered the word, "DO you mean upset?" she nodded as she played with a card that had an 'r' on it. "Why are you upset?" She looked down at her hands, slowly pulling the gloves off of her hands. Her hands were covered in blisters, blood still on the wounds.

"hart!" she managed to exclaim in yelp as she looked at more of the letters.

The man pulled up a data pad and recorded for it, "Case notes: Tell Claire to ease off of the sword training, they are having higher psychological breakdowns," said the man, "They are already tough enough to teach to with their mental degradation."

The video ended; another one popping up with both Mikhail, Claire, and the two scientists again.

"The clones aren't viable," said Claire to one of the scientists, "I can barely teach them anything! they just drool and goof around while I try to teach!"

"Is this always an issue with the clones?" Mikhail asked.

"Yes," one of the scientists said, "Human clones are much tougher to replicate than Krogan or any other alien." "The two main issues are the decreased Intelligence Quota." "The average human has anywhere from 100-120, while they barely can get a fifty on the test!"

"Can we overcome it?" Mikhail asked.

"Maybe," said the other scientists, "We are trying, but these aren't husks or simple minded organisms, we can't tank breed them like Krogan either, our genetic coding and mental capacities create issues with the nervous system, mainly a large lack of chemicals and hormones within the body." "We try and overcompensate for it or replace it, but it's too far up the evolutionary chain for a human to function or even maintain homeostasis in."

"Claire, what about the slave subjects," said Mikhail.

"Promising, but there is an issue of loyalty and ability," said Claire, "They don't want to learn or work, they'd rather die than work for us." "If The Crucible would not have destroyed all existing Reaper Technology, the breakthrough on indoctrination could be viable, but it's millions of years away!"

"Continue the research," said Mikhail to both of them, "I want to see some results soon." The video ended after. The crew looked around the room, trying to take in what was going on.

"Cerberus is crazy," said Tali, "They are creating living beings to be slaves, they are just as worse as The Reapers!"

Ashley was at a nearby terminal, looking through the database. "I can't find my sister, nothing to indicate if she's still even alive."

"Do you think she is?" asked Shepard.

"I hope so," said Ashley, "Either way, Mikhail dies..."

Shepard briefly left the room, running back in as a large explosion flew in from the hallway. The power went out, covering the entire room in darkness. The pods, began to drain, followed by the bodies slamming into the ground as the regained conscience.

"Shepard?" Liara asked, "What should we do?"

"I... I don't want to kill them," he said, "But I don't see much option here?"

"Just leave them," Garrus said, "They can't do any harm to us."

The crew moved outward as the clones sat up and cried in the darkness. The hollow screeches and sobs pierced Shepard's eardrums as he closed the door, making him shutter in his armor. They had their flash lights turned on, following a large metal pathway above a room filled with cords, that had burned up.

"What did you do in here Shepard?" Ashley asked.

"Tossed a grenade down there," he said.

"Good," Wrex said, "A grenade always solves the issue.

The crew eventually reached an maintenance elevator that lead to the main chambers at the bottom of the base.

"Looks like this will take us right towards the other squads location," said Garrus, "The radio jammer along with the solid concrete and earth is blocking our communication." The crew piled into the elevator, pressing the button as it started up. They jerked slightly as it took them down towards the center of the base. They saw various levels of the base, many including offices and gyms and even a sauna.

Eventually, they reached the end of the ride, stopping at a large circular area of the base. The power was still on, showing that they must have had a substation for the lower parts of the base. The room was a large reception area for the base, signs hanging around showing where everything was. Shepard and the crew walked forward as they looked around for Cerberus troops or their allies.

Then, out of nowhere, a voice rung out from the room. "Congratulations, Captain!" Shepard turned to see Mikhail, who was standing behind a force field at the edge of the room.

"To cowardly to fight us head on?" asked Ashley.

"No," he replied, "I'm just that smart."

"We saw your experiments," Shepard griped at him, "You made innocent people suffer!"

"I wouldn't call those mouth breathers people," said Mikhail, "They can't even count to five!"

"There still alive!" Liara yelled at him, "You are a monster! Worse than The Illusive Man!"

Mikhail chuckled, "No, he was a fool, chasing his dream of control until it cost him his life, but I knew better."

"What's your plan?" asked Shepard.

"To kill you all, nice and slowly," he said.

"Funny, but I'm referring to the reason you were looking for The Mars data," said Shepard.

"Well... that would be telling," he said, "You'll know, eventually," he pulled a cigarette out of his coat pocket, lighting it as he inhaled a puff of it into his lungs and exhaling it out his nose.

"I don't have time for this," Ashley exclaimed, "What did you do with my sister?"

"Your sister," Mikhail said, "I don't know, you'd have to ask Claire."

Ashley fired several shots, all of them absorbed by the energy of the force field.

"Anyway," said Mikhail, "I am impressed you got this far, but I'm afraid you're going to have to die now." "Your little invasion squad is still on its way down, so that gives us time to play."

"Just surrender now and you don't have to die," said Shepard.

"I'd rather die than be forced to go with your Alliance forces and be tortured by you brutes," he said as he smoked, "But like I said, you will die here, at least on the inside."

"Funny, I expect to kick your ass, then have you run off in pain again," said Shepard, "Just like Kai Leng did a million times."

"Don't compare me to that imbecile!" Mikhail proclaimed, "He literally was the most pompous asshole you'd ever meet." "The man has the stupidest idea of fun I've ever seen." Mikhail chuckled, "I mean... we're talking about a man who ate a bowl of cereal while wire tapping an apartment because he thought it was edgy!"

Shepard and the crew began to laugh, "That is stupid." That moment of laughter completely went against the entire conflict at hand, but managed to somehow bring the two groups together in a peaceful activity.

Mikhail stopped chuckling, "BUT!" "The reason why we are here isn't to laugh about Kai Leng, but rather this," he stopped and pointed to a door that opened. A woman popped out of the room, dressed head to toe in phantom armor. The armor was a pure black, along with a white Cerberus insignia on it. She had a large sword in her right hand, the blade deflecting light off of its tip. She had a small red cape attached to the back of her neck and shoulders, drifting downward towards the ground. Several small tubes lined the suit, appearing to connect major blood vessels of the body.

"ABBY!" exclaimed Ashley as she looked in horror at her sister. Abby's face was covered in black veins, her skin was as white as a ghost. Her eyes were bloodshot, her pupils were also dilated. Her hair was black, just like Ashley's, but was un-groomed and short. Her hair looked greasy, clearly have not been washed for days or even months. The smell of ammonia was all over her body, filling the entire room and the crew's mouths.

"Abby," Ashley said as she slowly walked towards her, tears forming in her eyes, "Abby, it's me, Ash." Abby yielded no response, only gazing into nothingness as Ashley approached.

"Sorry to break up the reunion, but Abby is with us now," said Mikhail, "It wasn't easy convincing her, but a heavily sedated state of Red Sand and other Hallucinogens provided the best results." "She can't tell who you are or where she even is." Mikhail smiled as he tossed the butt of the cigarette on the ground and pulled up his Omni-tool, "However, when induced, she kills all in sight with no remorse."

He pressed a few buttons, starting the mechanics of her suit up. The red liquid began flowing through her body as her mouth began to foam a little. She growled , looking directly at Ashley with her sword cocked.

Ashley pulled her gun up, "Please Abby, please don't make me do this..." she whispered as she backed off of her sister. Abby cried out, running towards Ashley with her sword ready to strike. Just at the last moment, Ashley was pulled out of the way as Shepard took the hit from Abby.

The sword cut into his shoulder, the one that had just been wounded from before. Shepard yelled out in pain as he tackled her to the ground. He pushed the sword out of his shoulder as he began to punch her in the head. She jerked up, throwing Shepard off of her as she ran back for her sword. Ashley ran up and tackled her as she got near her sword.

"I hope you can forgive me for this," she said as she punched with all her might into her sister's head. The blow knocked her out cold, allowing for Ashley to check her sister's vitals.

"It's rigged to overdose," Mikhail said, "So you better hurry if you want to save her."

"Ashley, get your sister to safety," said Shepard, "We'll handle Mikhail."

"I think not," he said as he typed something into his Omni-tool, "I'll be leaving." Just then, the floor beneath him began to lower as he waved goodbye to the crew. The force field remained active to ensure he could get away.

"Go get him," Shepard said to the others as he helped Ashley pick up Abby .

"He's gone Shepard!" Liara said, "The schematics show that he's headed to an emergency shuttle exit. The other entrance is too far away to get to in time."

Just then, a large blast opened a large shut door on the other side of the room. The other troops poured in as they met up with Shepard.

"Shepard!" Green said, "It was a mess in there! Cerberus must have put every troop into fortifying that hallway." "There were turrets and mechs and phantoms... it was amazing."

"As much as I'd like to hear about it, I've got to get this woman medical treatment now," Shepard said.

"Roger," said Green, "Looks like you could use some bandages too."

"I can wait," said Shepard.

Crew met up with several other troops, who took Abby with them as they ran back up to the top. Ashley stayed close to Abby as they left for a hospital. Shepard looked around at the room, hoping to find some trace of Mikhail.

"Damn it," he said, "Mikhail got away on us... again."

"It' okay," said Green, "Bastards like him slither up again sooner or later." He looked at Shepard's shoulder, "That's a bad wound, let's see if we can't fix that up."

Shepard walked away from the room, knowing he'd find Mikhail sooner or later.


	5. Chapter 5

The shuttle slowly approached The Alliance base in Paris, docking itself at the medical wing of the facility. A crew of medical doctors popped out of the building and rushed to the shuttle. They were all dressed in white, pushing a medical bed and carrying several different devices with them.

The door opened, revealing a beaten Abby Williams carried by Ashley Williams, a gash in Ashley's forehead was bleeding a little, but she worried mostly about her sister. The doctors, grabbed Abby, hooking her up to an IV feed as they laid her in the bed. Ashley, stayed by her sister's side, tightly holding her hand as the doctors prepared to treat Abby.

"She's OD'ed on Benzoylmethylecgonine Trisulfide, she also appears to be dehydrated, malnourished, and suffering from organic rejection of these synthetic machines," one of the doctors said to the others as he read some things off of a data pad, "Get her to a recovery unit, quick, we are going to need to contract the drug with 500 CC of both Sildenafil citrate and Tadalafil, ASAP!"

The doctors rushed away from the shuttle, Ashley following close by them as they headed into the building. Shepard and the rest of the crew had stepped out of the shuttle, watching as the doctors went away.

"Shepard," Liara said, "You should follow Ashley, make sure that she's okay."

"What about you guys?" asked Shepard.

"We'll be fine," Garrus said, "We can talk to Hackett, you just go find Ashley."

"Thanks," said Shepard. Shepard hurried off as the crew went back into the shuttle, taking off to a new landing pad. Shepard walked down the rest of the pathway, entering the air conditioned hospital. The light of bright sun turned into the white, bland light of a hospital entrance.

The room was white, clearly a back entrance to a hospital. Several doctors were busy at work at terminals on both sides of the room, typing up information sheets and reviewing charts. Shepard looked around, seeing a only one other exit to the room. A sign was next to it, signifying it was the way to surgery, x-ray, and the main part of the hospital wing. Shepard walked down the hallway at a quick pace. He looked into every window as he looked for Ashley.

Finally, he turned a corner and saw Ashley. She was standing outside the window of a surgery room, watching the doctors remove machinery from her sister. Shepard approached her, smiling as she turned towards him.

"Hey," Shepard said, "Is she going to be okay?"

Ashley cried and hugged Shepard, "I don't know."

Shepard held her, Ashley crying into his arms. He felt bad, Ashley had felt nothing but pain these past few months, but it seemed to finally all be over.

"Shepard," Ashley exclaimed, "Your Shoulder." Shepard looked to his left, seeing blood still pouring from his shoulder from the fresh wound. He had forgotten about it, only focusing on Abby as she was in the shuttle. "You need help."

"I'm fine," he said to her as he held her hands, "I want to make sure you are fine, along with your sister."

Ashley hugged Shepard again, "I love you."

"I love you too," Shepard said as he held her.

Ashley pulled away again, turning back towards her sister, "Seriously though, the blood from the cut is pouring out of your body, go get help," Ashley said, "I'll be fine, it's just tough."

"Okay Ash," Shepard began to walk away, "I'll be right back." Shepard quickly paced down the hallway, looking for someone to help him.

"Captain Shepard," a voice said from behind him. He turned to see a familiar face, Doctor Chakwas.

"Chakwas," Shepard said as he clenched his shoulder, "Good to see you again."

"That's a deep cut," Chakwas said as she pulled his arm from his Shoulder, "Come with me." Shepard followed Chakwas back into the room she had came out of. It was a small examination room, a bed with a paper sheet on top of it was in the corner. A laptop sat on a desk with a cabinet above it, the cabinet was filled with many clear jars, filled with various things like cotton balls and tongue compressors.

Chakwas opened one of the cabinets, taking out a needle along with some stitches. "Take your armor off," Chakwas said. Shepard peeled the top of his armor off, it fell to the ground with a clunk as he unhooked the last part. Shepard's shirt was soaked in blood, the blood dripping down still from the wound.

"God Shepard!" said Chakwas, "How long did you have this for?"

"A few hours," said Shepard.

"Were going to need some more bandages and blood for you," said Chakwas. She went over to the laptop, typing something into it. "Okay, I've requested some stuff for you," she said as she approached Shepard as he had took his shirt off, dried blood all over himself as he cringed in pain.

Chakwas looked at the cut, examining if there was any damage done to it. "You're rotator tendon looks fine, and the cut appears to be shallower than it looks. You'll need some stitches and cleaning up, but your synthetic implants will make recovery very easy.

Just then, another familiar face entered the room, Doctor Cohen. She had a packet of blood ready for Shepard along with an injection.

"Doctor Cohen," Shepard smiled, "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise Captain," she said as she handed the needle to Chakwas, "This is morphine Shepard, so you'll be a little out of it for a bit." Shepard cringed again as the shot of Morphine was drained into his left arm. Chakwas then began to clean Shepard's wound, Shepard wasn't in any pain, he felt nothing but bliss as he watched Chakwas stitch up his wound.

"Shepard," Doctor Cohen interjected, "What happened to you?"

"I was in a... Cerberus Base," Shepard said as he began to feel light headed, "I got stabbed in the arm by Ashley's sister, the one that went missing," Shepard said as he motioned to Chakwas.

"Ashley's sister was found," Chakwas said, "Great, I remember how depressed Ashley got when she went missing." "Is she gonna be all right?"

"Yeah," Shepard said as he watched Chakwas wash the blood off of his body. "Am I gonna be okay, I feel weird."

"It's the morphine Shepard," Chakwas said, "It'll wear off pretty quick, drugs like that wear off due to your synthetic implants."

"Good," Shepard said as he got up, stumbling on his feet, "I gotta get back to Ash." He slowly gained his balance back, shaking his head as he came down off of his high.

"Wow," said Shepard, "That was... interesting." "Thank you Chakwas, Cohen, it was nice seeing you again." Shepard began to walk away.

"Also, before you go," said Chakwas as Shepard turned back, "First, you probably need a new shirt, especially since yours is soaked in blood."

"It's fine," said Shepard.

"Also, you should know that we already had a discussion with some people about rebuilding The Normandy."

"Really," Shepard said, "Anything new about it?"

"The Salarians, Asari, and Quarian have signed on with both Humanity and The Turians on building The SR3." "Also, It's going to have some state of the art technology, along with more room thanks to reduced space needed for the engine."

"As much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I really need to get back to Ashley," Shepard said.

"Okay Captain," said Cohen, "Take care." Shepard nodded as he headed off towards where he last saw Ashley. He reached the spot again, however, neither Ashley or Abby was anywhere in sight. Shepard looked down at his shirt, blood still soaked all over it. He headed into a nearby restroom, taking his shirt off as he began splashing water from the nearby sink onto his chest. He washed the blood off, but knew that if he put his shirt back on blood would begin to re-stain his body, so he decided to go without one for the time being.

Shepard headed out, looking around for both Ash and something to wear. He went into the surgery room, looking for some clue of where they went. In there, he noticed disregarded armor on the table next to the surgery table, noticing that it was Abby's. He also noticed a large bloody bin filled with synthetic parts. He picked a couple out, they were very fragile and had been inside Abby. He noticed a bracer, clearly designed to reinforce the wrists, or at least part of the arm.

"Excuse me sir," a female voice came from behind Shepard, "I don't know what you're doing here, but this is a restricted area to non-medical personnel, also you do need to follow the dress code."

"I'm sorry," said Shepard, "Captain Shepard, Human Spectre," he said to her

"Oh," said the doctor, "Sorry Captain, I didn't recognize you..." "Do you want me to find you a shirt or something?" She said as she stared at Shepard's abs, as if she'd never seen muscles before.

"Sure," he said, "That'd be nice, also if you could tell where Abby was taken.

"She was taken to the recovery wing, it is just down the hall," the doctor said as she approached a locker near the door, she opened it tossing a shirt to Shepard, "It's a basic Alliance uniform top, but it'll do."

"Thanks," said Shepard as he left the room. He went back down the hall he came from, passing the room that Chakwas was in. He reached a four way, turning left as he followed the sign to the recovery wing. He reached the room labeled as RECOVERY, entering to see a series of beds separated by cloth walls. He eventually saw Ashley, who was sitting next to her Sister. She was unconscious, heavily bandaged as she was monitored by several computers.

Ashley was next to her sister, still watching her every move, she looked up and smiled as Shepard sat down next to her.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah," said Ashley, "She's going to make a full recovery, it'll just be an issue of psychological damage and time." "What about you?"

"I got patched up," said Shepard, "But I'm fine." "Ash, you should go get out of your armor, get relaxed, Abby's fine," Shepard said.

"Your still wearing your armor bottoms," said Ashley, "Besides, I'm not leaving her side."

"Stubborn as usual," muttered Shepard. Ashley rolled her eyes as the two watched the charts go by and Abby rest. The minutes turned to hours as Shepard and Ashley sat, waiting for Abby to wake up. Until, Abby began to groan, Ashley jumping to attention as Abby woke up.

"Ashley, is that you?" Abby asked in a daze.

"Yes it is," said Ashley as she held her sister's hand, "It's okay, we are all okay." Abby cried as Ashley comforted her, Shepard sat back and let the two reunite.

"Sis, it was awful," Abby cried, "They gave me drugs and ridiculed me and made me kill people!" "That guy, Mikhail, he wanted to make me kill you, he made me eat red sand infected food and deprived me of sleep and food!" "He told me that he was going to make me kill my entire family, and chop your bodies up with my bare hands!'

"My god," Ashley gasped, "Shepard, this guy has gone too far."

"Shepard?" Abby asked, "Nice to finally meet you," she said to him. "Are you two..."

"We are together," Ashley said, "In fact, we are getting married." Abby smiled as she heard the news

"That's great," said Abby, "When's the wedding?"

"Next few months, we still have to finish up some details, but I know that I want you as the maid of honor," Ashley said.

"Really?" asked Abby.

"Yes, I thought you were gone, but somehow, people keep coming back to me," Ashley said to her. "And I promise that, no matter what, I will always be with you."

Abby cried again, knowing that she was truly home, then jerked up as she remembered, "Where's mom, Lynn, and Sarah?"

"I messaged them a little while ago," said Shepard, "They'll be here soon."

"So you've already met the family?" asked Abby.

"I met them over lunch, plus I met Sarah after she lost her husband," said Shepard, "We've spent a few days together."

Just then, a couple of figures appeared in front of the bed, glee appearing in both of the girls eyes. It was their mom, along with her other two sisters. They ran to her side, crying that Abby was still alive and well.

"Abby, we've missed you so much," Mrs. Williams said to Abby as she kissed her on the forehead.

"I missed you too mom," said Abby, "I wish I'd never volunteered for that stupid team," Abby said, "At least I'm okay and you are okay."

Shepard sat back from the women, knowing that their reunion wasn't something he felt to interfere in. Shepard looked up at his Omni-tool, realizing a message was in his inbox. He pulled it up, it read:

Subject: Meeting

From: Admiral Hackett

Shepard, we need to talk about something. Meet me by the small Cafe above the lobby.

Shepard looked up, "Ash," he said to her as she turned to him, "I gotta go, Hackett wants to talk to me about the mission."

"Okay, Skipper," said Ashley, "See you again... I love you."

"I love you too," he said as he turned away and headed out the door. He slightly overheard the giggles of Ash's sisters as they still couldn't get over "The Great Commander, now Captain," was going to be part of their family.

Shepard reached the end of the hospital, exiting to a corridor that held several elevators. He entered one of the open ones along with several other people. He pressed the button for the floor above the lobby, wondering what Hackett wanted to talk to him about.

The door finally opened to his floor, stepping out as the door shut behind him. He walked out of the small into the large lobby of the military center. The sun was coming back down to the horizon, signifying that the day was coming to a close, and what a day it had been. He looked down, seeing a storm of media figures and cameras focusing on a man who was standing near the middle of the lobby. He looked across the balcony which surrounded the lobby, seeing Hackett leaning on the waist-high glass wall across the room. Shepard hurried around and approached Hackett, seeing Hackett looking up at him.

"Captain," said Hackett as Shepard looked down at the man.

"Admiral," Shepard said. He noticed that the man was Admiral Price, he was wearing a dress suit that had a silver alliance logo pinned on it. He was talking to several reporters, answering the questions they threw at him.

"So I take it he's running," said Shepard.

"Yeah," Hackett replied, "He enjoys the attention, plus he feels like a hero who's going to forge a new golden era of humanity."

"You doubt it?" asked Shepard.

"No, but he just has to realize that ideology generally doesn't end well in politics, or maybe it does, I don't know," Hackett said, "Either way, he's happy to run and I really don't have to deal with politics that much."

"And neither do I," said Shepard, "At least for now."

"Anyway," Hackett said, "That's not why I asked you down here."

"What did you want to ask me?" said Shepard.

"I wanted to ask you about the mission, in particular why you felt that a civilian was more important than killing Mikhail," said Hackett.

"It was Ashley's sister, I felt that her safety was more important than catching the bad guy," said Shepard, "I didn't think you would disapprove."

"I don't, but the other Admirals question your judgment," said Shepard, "They don't really understand why she was more important that Mikhail." "Also, in case you were wondering, I do know about you and William's relationship."

"You do?" asked Shepard.

"I know that you violated many rules over the past few years," Hackett said, "And I've kept the other Admirals in the dark."

"Really?" asked Shepard, "Thank you, I didn't know you wouldn't have a problem with it."

"I know you, you are good soldier who has saved the galaxy time and time again," Hackett said, "I don't really care who you want to be with, or why, but I know you're not just here for a chance to hook up with women."

"So, what do you want me to do?" asked Shepard.

"The political system is going to dig everything up about us as fast as they can," said Hackett, "They want to make sure we are good, perfect people, but nobody is." "Shepard, you better get ready to take the hit for you and Williams relationship."

"I think the media can accept that the two of us are happy together," said Shepard.

"Shepard, these people doubted you after you saved The Citadel and after you came back from the dead, the really do not care, whatever get's them viewers, it will happen." "They will make your relationship look like a dirty love affair between humanities two most elite agents, which doesn't bode well for any of us."

"I'm going to stop you right there Hackett," said Shepard, "Ashley and I are happy, we love each other, in fact we plan on getting married." "I honestly don't care if every media outlet in the universe disapproves of our relationship, but I will stand by it until the end of time."

Hackett looked at Shepard, getting up and reaching to shake Shepard's hand. "Congratulations Shepard," said Hackett, "I personally hope the two of you are happy together, and I know that you'll get through it, you always do." Hackett walked away, Shepard looking down to hear Admiral Price speaking again.

"The path in front of us is hard," said Price to a reporter, "But the end of the journey is more rewarding than anything else..."

Shepard had heard enough, he hated politics and really didn't care either way. He walked away, passing the cafe and stopped after hearing another familiar voice.

"Shepard," Joker said to him. He was sitting at a table, a sandwich in front of him. Shepard smiled and walked towards him. He pulled the chair out, sitting next to Joker and saying, "Joker, how've you been!"

"Good," said Joker, "Besides the fact that my ship blew up... again, I've been talking with Hackett about The new Normandy." "By the way, what were you talking to Hackett about over there?"

"We went on mission earlier," said Shepard, "We managed to save Ash's sister and destroy a Cerberus base," said Shepard.

"Great!" said Joker, "Ashley really missed her sister, I'm glad she's back, also did you get Mikhail?"

"No, the choice came down to either Mikhail or Abby, and Hackett was talking about my how my ethics conflicted with some of The Admirals," said Shepard.

"Well that's why you're a Spectre," said Joker, "Because rules suck and you know it, you've saved trillions of lives, I think they can give you a break."

"Yeah," Shepard groaned, "Now he's telling me about how my relationship with Ashley is going to get slammed."

"I wouldn't doubt it," said Joker as he brought his hands up, "A hot affair between humanities' heroes, plus their love child the fish-man," he said in deep reporter-like voice.

Shepard laughed, "You really do lighten the mood." Shepard changed the subject, "How's the new Normandy coming?"

"Great," said Joker, "They are totally listening to me now, giving me a ton of control over the designs!"

"I hope you are respecting the power," Shepard said.

"Five words: Hot Tub Strip Poker Party," Joker bragged, "We are also getting a gym and, my favorite, state-of-the-art stealth cloaking and thrusters that enable easy movement in a three-dimensional range of space."

"You're getting a hot tub and your more excited about the ship itself?" asked Shepard.

"Well, the person I love is dead," Joker said, "Besides, I've already seen her naked... in a way."

"Glad to see your taking her death well," said Shepard.

"I mourned and moved on, it's what she want," said Joker, "I've asked Tali, and there's no way of restoring her, we'd need to take EDI and pretty much make her entire life again in order to get her back."

Shepard felt guilty, because he knew something Joker didn't. He killed EDI, he killed The Geth. Their deaths still on his conscious, twisting his stomach into so many knots. He wanted to tell the truth, he wanted to look at Joker, tell him about The Catalyst and what he learned from The Leviathans and The Catalyst itself, but he knew it would break Joker's heart. It would ruin the state of the galaxy, he would go from a hero to a monster in an instant, so he remained quiet.

"It's getting late Joker," said Shepard, "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Well goodnight," Joker said, "I'll see you later."

Shepard walked away from the table, approaching the elevator again and pressed the button to the top floor. He stood in the elevator, his shoulder wasn't in anymore pain, but he felt tired. He had gone under so much pain the past year, and wanted nothing more than rest. The door to the top floor opened, revealing a series of guest rooms, he exited the elevator and left towards the final door at the end of the hallway.

Shepard approached his room; his room door displaying the title: The Presidential Suite. He typed his password into the holographic keypad. The light turned green, allowing the door to open for him. It slide open from the center, revealing a neatly tidy room for Shepard to relax in.

The room was not unlike a hotel suite, somewhat similar to the one he stayed in after The Battle of The Citadel. The room had blue carpet, a couple of couches with a large monitor in front of it, mainly used for the extranet and television. Further ahead, was a small observation deck overlooking the city. There was a small kitchen nook off to the left of the entrance, a fridge and several appliances available for his use. just next to the little nook was a staircase that lead to a small level above the main floor that held a king sized bed, another monitor and several cabinets. To Shepard's right, was the bathroom which he headed towards. Shepard reached down, unhooking his armor bottoms and tossing them aside by the door.

Shepard walked into the large bathroom, the lights were dim compared the rest of the room. There was a standard mirror and a couple of sinks. There was the usual bathroom appliances, two showers with one in the main part of the bathroom with a connecting one in a smaller bathroom chamber accessible to others from the rest of the suite. However, what was the shining part of the bathroom was a large Jacuzzi-bath that graced itself in the corner. It was large, able to fit up two four or five people, but was meant for a single person. It had several notches for jet streams, each devoted to individual therapeutic messages and circulation. It had a dark blue, plastic look to it, but was surprisingly soft to the person's back.

Shepard went to a small, holographic control panel on the wall. Shepard pressed a few buttons, setting the temperature and speed of the bath. The hot, steamy water began to flow into the bath, the air of the room heating up from the warm water. liquid soap was added and circulated through the tub, allowing the formation of a layer of bubbles and suds on the top. Steam gradually rose from off the tub, landing on the cooler surfaces of the bathroom.

Shepard grabbed his shirt, pulling it gradually off of his chest and over his head. He tossed it aside and began to kick his boots off. He reached down, pulling his socks off one at a time as he threw them in the pile. He then began to unbuckle his belt, pulling it off of his waist in a smooth fashion. He unbuckled his pants as well, pulling them down and taking them off one foot at a time. Finally he removed his boxer briefs, tossing them aside as he began to put one foot in the water. He slowly lowered himself into the water, groaning in pleasure as he felt the warm and calming waters overlap every inch of his body.

He sat back, allowing the several currents to relax the muscles of his body. He reached over to a small container built into the floor by the tub, which was also built into the floor. He opened the small hatch, revealing a small cooler that held a few beers. Shepard grabbed one, opening the cap with his other soapy hand and took a swig of the beer. The beer was cool, flowing down his throat as he relaxed in the soapy warm water.

A few minutes passed extremely quickly in the comfort of the Jacuzzi-tub. Shepard had finished off about half of his beer, the alcohol calming down his mood. Then, Shepard heard a knock at the door of his apartment.

"Who is it," Shepard yelled from the bath.

"It's Ash," he heard from across the room.

"Come in, you know the code," said Shepard. He heard the door open to the apartment, followed by the whooshing as it closed. Shepard looked as he saw Ashley walk into the bathroom.

"Well Skipper, nice to see you've taken a laxed attitude to my presence," Ashley said as she crossed her arms.

"Well, we are getting married in a few months," Shepard replied, "Besides, it's not like you haven't seen me naked before, and you can't see anything past all these suds."

"I guess," Ashley chuckled.

"Where's your armor?" asked Shepard.

"I took it off at the armory," said Ashley, "Then I figured I'd check up on you, I'm worried about you."

"I thought you'd be with your family," said Shepard.

"The left a little while ago," said Ashley, "Abby is doing a lot better than expected, but it's such a relief to see her again." "We all caught up, talked about stuff..."

"Stuff?" Shepard asked.

"You know, wedding stuff," Ashley said as she leaned onto the sink. "We gotta pick out my dress still and get flowers and the catering ready," she listed with her fingers. "By the way, I hope you plan on helping," she sarcastically said to Shepard as he took a swig of beer.

"I do!" Shepard replied, "Besides, we got months to plan this thing."

Ashley laughed, "A wedding is a big thing, plus we still have to figure out who to invite."

"We'll figure it out," he said, "Anyway, since your here with me..." he suggested with a smile.

"Let me guess? You want me to get in the tub with you," she said to Shepard in a serious tone, "And why do you think that I'm gonna do that?"

"Because I love you," Shepard said.

Ashley sighed, putting her hand to her face in disbelief. "Fine," She said as she took her gloves off and tossed them in the pile with Shepard's clothes. She unzipped her jacket, beginning to take it off.

"Oh baby," Shepard said as she took the jacket off, revealing her black tank top.

"My god," Ashley laughed under her breath.

"You love it," he said to her in a smile, "Now take it off!"

She threw off her tank top, revealing her tight, black bra with her luscious, semi-dark skin. She reached down to her pants, slowly unbuckling it for Shepard.

"Do a little dance for me?" he suggested to her in a smooth tone.

She giggled, swaying her hips as she kicked off her boots. She swayed over to Shepard, her pants falling down to the floor as she stepped out of them. She was down to her underwear, gazing at Shepard who had a stupid grin all over his face.

"Wait," said Ashley, "Let me guess? Your gonna tell me what I should take off next."

"No," said Shepard, "But I'd suggest you take off your socks."

Ashley looked down, a pair of white socks still on her feet. She quickly took them off, throwing them with the rest of the pile. She then reached behind her back, unhooking the clamps of her bra as it rested from its tight state. She took it off, revealing her bosom to Shepard. She then reached down, pulling her panties down as she stepped out of them for Shepard.

"Oh my god," Shepard said in an amazed tone with no breath.

Ashley laughed, "Didn't your parents teach you not to stare?"

"Yeah, but my naked fiancée was an exception I thought," he said to her. They laughed as she stepped into the tub with him, moving up next to him. She sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Holy crap is this amazing," she said as she closed her eyes, "Why couldn't The Normandy have one of these."

"I'll talk to Joker if you really want me to," he said.

"No," Ashley demanded, "I'm pretty sure he'd plant cameras in it, besides, I'm almost entirely sure he taped us having sex on the first Normandy."

"I get that feeling too," he said, "He had unlimited access to the cameras as the pilot... this is killing the romantic-mood."

"Yeah," she said as she reached over a grabbed a beer from the container next to Shepard, sitting up as she opened it and took a drink. "You think The Alliance is going to be okay with us?"

"I don't know," said Shepard, "On one hand, they realize I'm human and have emotional desires like everyone else; however, on the other, the really want to retain their professional integrity and don't like it when people violate their fraternization rules."

"But we've already violated it," Ashley said, "And if they think they can keep me from you, then they might as well discharge both of their only Spectres."

Shepard smiled, "Have I told you lately that I love, you?"

"You might have mentioned it," she said as Shepard leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around Shepard's back, leaning onto him as the kissed. "You know, we probably shouldn't do this here," Ashley said as she backed away. She pulled herself out of the tub, water slowly dripping off of her body. "I'll meet you in bed..." she seductively purred as she wrapped a towel around herself.

Shepard was in a daze, watching his fiancée as she left the room in nothing but a towel. Shepard sat back, giving her a few moments to further the sexual tension, or at least he thought. He finally got up, grabbing a towel himself, drying himself off and tossed it aside as he walked out of the bathroom and headed to the bed.

He climbed the stairs, the cool air of the room flowing across his body. He saw Ashley, who had climbed under the covers and was leaning back on the head of the bed. She perked up, blushing as she watched Shepard approach her.

"So much for modesty," she said as he climbed under the covers.

"I don't here you complaining," said Shepard as he moved closer to Ashley.

"Shepard," she gasped as he slowly kissed her neck and moved on top of her.

* * *

"Okay," Ashley said in an exhausted voice as she rolled herself off of Shepard's sweaty body, "That was amazing."

"Agreed," Shepard said as he put his head onto the back off the pillow. Ashley curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder as she pushed herself onto Shepard's thigh. "Especially that last part," he said to her.

"Well, I can't let you do all the work," she giggled, "Besides, you did a lot of work... and let me just say, your mouth has totally benefited from the past months of political navigation." Shepard laughed as he slowly began to close his eyes.

"Hey Skipper?" Ashley softly said to Shepard.

"Yeah," he managed to mutter out.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Shepard said as the two of them fell asleep together.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: It's been a while since my last update.

I've been pretty busy with stuff for college, finals and research papers and all that. HOWEVER, finals week is over and I have the next few weeks off. So, if the plan goes accordingly as planned, I'll be able to update this story ALOT more. So, here it is.

Also, I do not own Mass Effect or any of the characters and all of that legal stuff you've come to love and know.

* * *

Shepard slowly opened his eyes, the light pouring into his vision. He felt completely refreshed, a long night of rest is what he needed. It had been a long couple of days, the destruction of The Normandy and Abby's reappearance after a year of disappearance had raised his stress level to significant levels since The Reaper War. Shepard had been plagued by nightmares and other ailments since the war ended, each getting more and more intense with each passing day. However, this night was one of those unique nights where he was free from the torture of his mind. Maybe it was Ashley's presence with him that night, maybe it was the fact that the events of the day were over; either way, he felt relaxed.

Shepard sat up in bed, lifting his head off of the soft pillow and bed sheets. He looked to his left, a surprised look appeared on his face. Ashley was no longer in the bed with him, or in the room with him for that matter. He got out of bed, looking around for someone in the apartment. He walked over to his dresser, opening it to grab some clothes to wear. Shepard grabbed the clothes, heading down the stairs of the floor the bed was on. He looked back towards the bed as something caught his attention.

He looked on the night stand. near the bed, a small data pad sat next to a lamp on it as well. He walked over to it, setting his fresh clothes onto the bed as he picked up the data pad.

It read,

Hey Skipper,

Going to check up on my sister. I figured I'd let you sleep in, you looked like you really need it. I'll see you at the morning debriefing.

-Ash

Shepard smiled, knowing how much she cared for him. He picked his clothes back up and headed down the stairs from the floor his bed on. He headed across to the bathroom, the light poured in to the room, illuminating the entire room in the dim, yellow light of the morning. He strode into the bathroom, putting his clothes on the bathroom counter while heading towards the shower. He entered the shower, turning the water on and waiting for it to heat up.

Shepard entered the shower, a nice heat encased his entire shoulders and slowly moved down his body. He grabbed the soap, lathering up his body. His right shoulder still hurt, each stitch held its own sting as he brushed passed it. He lathered himself up, rinsing his body off as he finished up the shower. He stepped outside the shower, drying himself off with a nearby towel.

He stepped up to the counter, grabbing his deodorant and body spray. He applied both of them, their aroma filling his nostrils with various scents other than the steamy smell of the bathroom. He then put them down, grabbing his shaving cream as he applied it to his face. He stopped at his goatee, making sure that it was perfectly symmetrical and aligned in its form. Shepard was obsessive over his goatee, something he had kept since he first grew it at the age of nineteen. Shepard began to shave, a simple plastic razor that cut smoothly against the grain. After finished shaving, he carefully picked up a pair of scissors he had bought back when he was nineteen. He began to trim his goatee, making sure all the hairs were the same length and neat.

He put the scissors down after making sure that his goatee was perfect. He brushed his teeth, flossed, and rinsed with mouth wash. He grabbed his clothes, putting on his Alliance casuals as he prepared to leave. He buckled his belt, heading out as he headed towards his boots. Shepard put then on, heading out his door as he tied his left boot. Shepard walked down the hallway as he began to wake up a little bit more.

Shepard entered the elevator and pressed the button for floor the meeting room was on. Shepard waited in the elevator; tapping his foot and leaning against the rail on the side of the elevator as the news came over the speaker in the elevator.

"And in latest military news, The Alliance reports that they are in full pursuit of the terrorist group, who appears to be the survivors of Cerberus, that assassinated The President of The Alliance and managed to destroy The Normandy in one attack," the announcer said, "An official statement from The Alliance said, 'there is no need for worry about any sort of security leak or weakness in Alliance defenses.' 'We are taking the necessary actions against these assassins and will bring them to justice.' Get the full story at eleven on The Alliance News Network: Your Official Source For Humanities' News."

The door opened, the white wall of the government hallway appeared as he looked out. He stepped outside and headed down the long hallway to the meeting room. The white of the hallway pierced Shepard's senses. The floor was marble, a small squeak coming up from the ground as it met his foot. He passed several doors, each holding meeting rooms, control, rooms, or something else.

Finally, Shepard came upon the meeting room he was looking for. It was the same one they had met in before and had a similar layout to the war room back on The Normandy. Shepard pressed the open button on the door, swishing open instantly. Inside was the meeting room they had always met in. They were there with Tali, Garrus, Wrex, and Liara following the destruction of The Normandy. However, this time, they were back on their home worlds.

Inside was Ashley, looking at a monitor and sipping on some coffee that she had gotten. The Admirals were more than likely already on their way, preparing to discuss their latest victory. Shepard looked around, seeing some other soldiers that had taken part in the earlier raids. Shepard recognized a few, but he approached Ashley.

"Hey Ash," said Shepard.

"Hey Skipper," she said back, still looking at the monitor. Shepard looked over her shoulder, seeing that Ashley was looking at an article about their latest raid. "Justice Served: Cerberus Suffers Severe Strikes in Several Systems."

"Well that's a lot of alliteration," Shepard commented. He noticed that there was a background window just peeking out of the corner of the article. Shepard reached over her shoulder and tapped it, pulling it into full view. It was a picture of a wedding dress, a pure, simple white design.

"Shepard," Ashley said as she pulled the article back up, a smile on her face, "no peaking." "You're not suppose to see it until the wedding."

"I thought that applied only for you, on the wedding day?" Shepard asked.

"Well excuse me for wanting it to be a surprise," said Ashley, "Just a few more months."

"Yeah, seems like it'll be here tomorrow," said Shepard, "We have so much still to plan."

"Don't worry about it," said Ashley, "We'll get it done." Ashley looked over at some of the others who were busy with other things. "Do they know?"

"About us?" asked Shepard, "Yeah, I told Hackett about it the other day."

"About us or the wedding?" asked Ashley, "Because it's pretty clear he knows about us."

"The Wedding," said Shepard, "He took it well, not sure about the other Admirals though." "I think they'll be fine," Shepard said, "They are just worried about compromising The Alliance's image, despite me saving their asses three times..."

Ashley giggled, "I suppose so Mr. Hero man."

"What time did you leave?" asked Shepard.

"I got up a few hours ago; to check up on my sister," Ashley said.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Shepard worried.

"It's mostly psychological problems," Ashley said as she rubbed her hands together slowly, "It'll take some time, but she's strong and she has Mom, Lynn, and Sarah."

"Not to mention the best big sister in the world," said Shepard. Ashley blushed a little after he said that, making him smile.

"That face," Shepard quietly laughed.

The doors opened again, Admiral Hackett along with the other Admirals appeared in view. Shepard and the others stood at attention, saluting as they came down to the center of the room.

Hackett nodded, "At ease." They all gathered around the center of the room, a holographic projection of a series of cloning machines appeared in view. "This, is what has been found in all of the bases we raided."

"Sir," asked one of other troops in the room, "Commander Howard, N7 Command Specialist; may I ask what those are?"

"Wombs," said Admiral Stevens, one of the Admirals in the room. She walked around pressing a button on the console, "They grow genetic altered humans, clones in essence."

"For what purpose?" asked Howard.

"Troops, workers, there are an unlimited amount of reasons why they would do it," Ashley spoke up in disgust, "Luckily, they couldn't produce a single sustainable clone."

"True," said Hackett, "But the fact they came this far is bad."

"Do we have any idea what they are doing wrong?" asked Shepard.

"According to our scientists studies, cross-referenced with some Salarian research; they have a problem during the coding of DNA and RNA," said Stevens. "They mess up a lot of key points telling the coding proteins to stop or start or what to code." "This, in turn, screws up the entire amino-acid chains of the clone, resulting in genetic mutation and mental breakdown."

"Are they close to fixing it," asked Howard.

"From what we can tell, no," said Stevens, "However, it can be fixed with patience and some good scientists." "Cloning technology is still expensive and produces many, many, many other problems." "My guess, they'll abandon the project before it yields any good results for their costs."

Next, an image of a phantom's armor appeared. It was clearly Ashley's sister's armor, but it was just the armor alone. The armor was in perfect form, clearly pieced together digital from its remains. The armor itself was white, with a trace of yellow and black lines around it. The tubes were clearly present on the suit, along with the red cape in the back.

"This is our primary threat," said Stevens, "The Proto-phantom suit." Next to the suit, a series of molecule bonds appeared in the hologram. "These are the chemicals recovered from the subject who was using the suit."

Ashley cringed a little, the thought of her sister just being another medical subject sickened her. However, she was smart enough not to object during the debriefing.

"They are a mixture of several drugs, mainly red sand and what appears to be a artificially created hallucinogen," Stevens said. "It's easily countered and extremely fragile when exposed to the outside elements."

"What about the suit?" asked Shepard.

"It looks like it may soon be in production," said Stevens.

"Cerberus was using slaves," Shepard said, "If they manage to mass produce this along with this drug, we could be overrun."

"We managed to hit their primary drug production site," said Hackett, "That and the fact that we have their primary proto-type will slow them down."

"How do we know it's their primary proto-type sir?" asked Ashley.

"It's an assumption, but we recovered no other forms of the suit in the entire raid," said Hackett. "We'll keep an eye out for an more developments on the suit, but for now we appear to be fine." "Another thing before we go, the anniversary of The Reaper War celebration has been moved to next week."

"Shepard, I expect that you are still open to give the key mark speech," said Stevens.

"Sure," Shepard responded.

"Good," said Hackett, "That's all we have for you today." "We'll let you know if there's any more news, other than that, you can resume your duties." The Admirals all gave a swift salute and then proceeded to leave the room. The people gradually returned to work, including Ashley and Shepard.

* * *

The day went by in a blur to Shepard. It was endless reports and paperwork, occasionally talking to someone on The Council. Shepard went back to the doctor's checked up on Ash's sister and to get his wound checked up. He was doing fine, Chakwas told him. His wound would soon be healed in the next couple days.

Ash's sister was another story. She was plagued with withdrawal symptoms of the drug. She was unconscious and rolling around in bed the entire time he was there. She was in a cold sweat, along with a high fever. The doctor's told Ash and her family it would be a couple of days before she would be awake. Ash told them to contact her the minute she was awake. It was tough to see Ash like this, dealing with something she couldn't control. She was always the protector of her sisters, yet she felt like she let Abby down.

"It's not your fault Ash," Shepard said as the two stood by her bed.

"I know," Ash muttered, "But I wonder if I did all I could."

"You did," Shepard said as he began to hold her hand.

Ash turned to him, giving Shepard a short, but sensual kiss. Shepard held her in his arms, letting her rest as he looked at the monitor that Abby was hooked up to. She must have hated seeing Shepard like this, hooked up and asleep for months on end.

Shepard broke the hug, saying, "Ash, I gotta go, but you take as much time as needed here."

"Okay Skipper," said Ash, "I love you."

"I love you too," he said as he left her and her sister. Shepard walked out of the hospital, praying that her sister would make a speedy recovery. Shepard took a left to the elevator, getting in and going up to the floor with his workplace. He got off at the floor, going down the hall to his right and entering a small room that had no visible title or markings on the outside. Shepard pressed the button and entered the room.

The room was a small, square room. A large window behind him showed the Paris landscape. The Eiffel Tower was nearly rebuilt along with the rest of the buildings. The green of the Earth was slowly coming back on the hills outside of the city. He saw a small flock of birds fly in the distance as he turned to sit down at his desk. The desk was rectangular and black, similar to the one back on The Normandy. Shepard had several files on the desk, dealing with several operations and people in The Alliance's crosshairs. He picked up a coffee cup, putting it aside as he realized it had been there for over a day. Shepard turned on the small laptop located on the desk. He grabbed one of the files, opening it as the computer booted up.

File Name: "Mikhail"

Age: "19-22 years old"

Gender: Male

Eye Color: Blue

Location: Unknown, but suspected in Terminus Space or Unknown Space

Occupation: Cerberus Supreme Commander and Head Admiral

Education: High School; Possibly University of Kosovo, Moscow University, or Serbian Institute of Technology.

Biography: With an IQ of 175, Mikhail is a violent and steady foe for Alliance officials. Has organized several attacks on Alliance territory and its allied Including, but not limited to: The Sur'Kesh Base Attack, The Cerberus Coup of The Council, The Cerberus Attack on London, The Cerberus Assassination of The President and destruction of The Normandy SR2. Should be regarded with extreme caution and captured for questioning.

A beep sounded as Shepard looked up at the computer screen. The screen was a blank blue, a simple line of black text appeared in front of Shepard.

_Hello Captain._

Shepard didn't know what to think. His computer was normally a log in screen, along with a similar background. He reached for the keyboard, typing in a simple "hello" as he waited to see what would happen.

_Do You Remember your Choice?_

Shepard was really confused now, he didn't have any idea of what was going on. He typed, "What choice" into the console and waited.

_Destruction._

"Destruction," said Shepard aloud, "No... it can't be..." He typed into the Computer "Destruction?" and waited for another response.

_Control. Synthesis. Destruction. You we're given these choices and you chose Destruction. Are you satisfied with your results?_

Shepard was simple breathless. How did this person know what he did, or who was it. Shepard typed into the console, his hands shaking with each move, "Who are you?"

_Who I am is irrelevant at this point, but what you did is complete relevant. As stated before, are you content with your choice?_

Shepard stopped, he wanted to slam his computer shut, hoping that it would all go away. However, he knew what he needed to say. He reached over, typing "no" into the computer. Almost instantly, a reply came.

_Good. Your choice was a bad one. Trillions of lives sacrificed when you simple needed to die. You are the problem. I hope you are ready to pay the price. Prepare yourself, your time shall come._

_Goodbye._

The screen returned to a normal log in screen. Shepard was still processing what had happened. He had hoped it was just his imagination, but somehow he knew it wasn't. He was worried, who had discovered his secret? Shepard opened a drawer to his left, a small bottle of alcohol was inside. He opened it up, taking a swig of the hard liquor as he tried to settle down.

Shepard sat in his desk for the next few hours, reading and filling out mind numbing paperwork as he tried to forget what had happened. Eventually, the blue day turned to a orange twilight as he finished up for the day. Paperwork wasn't his cup of tea, but following the war, he found himself piled on by it. He wished he was out there, helping to rebuild Earth. However, he knew that his role in the world was required and that Earth would be rebuilt, regardless of his participation.

Shepard left his office, locking the door behind him as he went into the elevator. Shepard looked at his Omni-tool as a small chime came from it. Inside, a message from Ash appeared on it.

Hey There Shep, come to my room for some wine.

-Ash

Shepard smiled as the door opened to his floor. Shepard went to another door down the hall, the one that was Ashley's. He knew the code, so he let himself in as soon as the door was open. Shepard had a pretty good idea of what was in for the night, and he liked it.

* * *

Shepard found himself in a clearing that was very familiarly to him. The dead tree branches hung like ghosts as the grey sky closed in on him. He looked around at the ground, the grey rocks and dead leaves scattered all around him. He was in his N7 armor, his guns not with him. Shepard began walking forward, not knowing where to go.

Eventually, in what appeared to be an endless forest of death, a figure emerged from the distance. Shepard looked forward, trying to see who it was. Eventually, the figure became familiar to him. It was Legion, the Geth responsible for their survival and independence. His mechanical eye was an eerie white that pierced Shepard's soul.

Then, he spoke, "Shepard-Commander? Does this unit have a soul?"

The question burned his very soul. The answer was a resounding yes, but he felt guilty about it. The Geth were gone, extinct like The Reapers; and this genocide was his fault.

"Sacrifice the trillion for the trillions," Shepard thought. Turning them into numbers made it worse, the guilt of labeling a life, innocent and pure, as something less made him sick. Yet, he knew it had to be done.

Legion seemingly evaporated as Shepard continued on through the forest. Then, another figure appeared before him. A clearly feminine figure, her body curved along with its artificial features. This was EDI, or at least her "body."

"The Illusive man ordered my creation years ago, Jeff is the one who allowed me to think for myself, But only now do I feel alive, that is your influence," EDI spoke to Shepard.

These words stung Shepard's core, she felt alive. She was his friend, she was Joker's friend, but most importantly; she was the friend of the crew. She was with Shepard through The Collector's and through The Reapers, and even on Luna in a weird way. However, he still chose to strike her down when she finally felt truly alive.

EDI disintegrated as well. Shepard continued on through the forest. The trees became more and more scarce as he reached a barren opening. The ground slowly became metallic, a pattern appeared ingrained in the metal as he continued along. The grey sky turned into dark, littered with thousands upon thousands of stars. Eventually a final figure appeared before him. The Catalyst.

"You," Shepard demanded, "Your responsible for all of this!"

"No!" it blared back in a deep dark voice, "You made the choice." Then, shooting up from the ground like a Thresher Maw, were three objects. On the right, a tall obelisk engulfed in red fire. It swirled around it, giving off waves of heat as Shepard looked at it. On the left, another obelisk shot up. This one was engulfed in sparks of lightning that swirled around it. Crackles and pops pierced Shepard's ears as he looked to his left. Finally, in the center of the two obelisks was a vortex of green mist. It swirled around as he was memorized by its haunting glow.

"Choose," said The Catalyst.

"I already have," said Shepard.

"Now you have a second chance," said The Catalyst, "Choose."

Shepard looked to his right, leaning towards it again as he contemplate his choice. However, he knew what laid down that path. He looked to the left, disgusted by the choice still. Then, Shepard took off running, throwing his weight ahead of his body as he sprinted towards the whirlpool in the ground ahead of him. Shepard was feet away from the vortex, ready to jump in.

Then, out of nowhere, a figure popped up in front of him out of the vortex and grabbed him. It was EDI, however, her face was that of a skeleton. She had sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. She screeched at him as her fingers ripped through Shepard's skin.

"YOU LET ME DIE!" She screamed as she dragged Shepard down into the vortex. Shepard was grabbed by husks as he fell into the vortex. Then, EDI lurched at his face, biting down and engulfing him in darkness and pain.

Shepard lurched forward out of bed, screaming as he fell out of the bed. He couldn't stop screaming as he pushed himself up against the wall near the bed. Shepard was shaking violently as he tried to breath. Shepard couldn't recognize anything near him, he felt completely lost. Shepard took a swing of his fist, feeling that someone was near him and going to attack.

Eventually, Shepard began recognizing things around him. He saw a lamp on a desk, its light still on. Shepard began breathing more normal, his heartbeat slowed down. He looked down and realized he was naked. He also wasn't in his room, he was in Ashley's room. Their rooms were similar, but his was more luxurious due to it being the presidential suite.

Shepard looked up, hearing some footsteps coming towards him. Ashley appeared, in a robe and was holding an ice pack against her face. He looked, realizing that there was a large bruise on her left cheek.

"Ash," Shepard exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you took a swing at me," she said.

"Oh my god," said Shepard softly, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, but we need to talk," said Ashley as she sat down next to Shepard and handed him a blanket from the bed. She sat next to him quietly, letting him rest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just some nightmares," said Shepard.

"It's more than that," Ashley said, "These nightmares have been getting worse and worse." "You're losing your sanity."

"I'm fine; it's just... The Reapers left a toll on me," said Shepard.

"Shepard, I love you," Ashley said as she cuddled next to Shepard, "Tell me what's bothering you."

Shepard thought for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to tell her about all of this, The Catalyst and The Reapers. He wanted to confess all of this, knowing that if anyone would understand it would be her.

"I...I feel guilty," said Shepard. "I killed EDI... I killed The Geth... trillions of lives gone, because of me," Shepard struggled to say.

"You didn't know," said Ashley, "They understand why it had to be done and they'll never be forgotten." Ashley leaned in to kiss Shepard, her lips softer than anything he felt in a long time.

Shepard knew this wasn't true, he knew. However, he couldn't tell Ash. He felt like complete garbage, but knew he needed to suppress it for the greater good.

"Come to bed," she said as the two stood up and fell into her bed. Ashley handed her ice pack to Shepard as she removed her robe, revealing her tan, nude body.

"I love you," Shepard said as he moved her ice pack onto her wound. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't mean it," she said, "Plus, you act like I can't take a punch." The two softly laughed as Shepard closed his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Shepard sat quietly in his room on his bed. He had a small electronic notepad in his hands, looking over it extensively. He was dressed in his alliance ceremonial gear, the dark blue fabric covered the entire outfit. A small gold chain from his Alliance suit hung from his left jacket pocket and attached to his top suit button. He had several medals and bars located on his right breast, signifying his many service accomplishments. Shepard also had his cap on, a silver Alliance insignia located on the front.

Shepard's gaze was located down at the device he was holding, looking over each word that he had typed on it. Shepard's mouth moved as he mouthed the words he had typed, the words to his speech at the one year anniversary of The Reaper War. He was the keynote speaker, along with several other leaders of the various races. However, he knew everyone would want to hear from the legendary Commander, now Captain, Shepard. He was a hero, despite how he felt about his actions. He knew that if they were to ever learn of his true actions, the willful sacrifice of trillions of synthetic lives, he wouldn't be the hero they all admired.

Shepard typed a few more things into his pad, changing his speech up to make it sound better. He had spoken at many events and to many people, but he had never spoken for millions, perhaps billions, of people live. He was a little nervous, but he was a natural speaker and a brilliant leader. Shepard knew he would speak too, so he had a week of preparation for his speech.

Shepard finished his speech, looking over it one last time to make sure that it was completely free of errors. Then, he submitted it to the proper people to be approved by The Alliance. Shepard didn't plan on using a teleprompter or anything, but The Alliance liked to have an idea of what would be said along with an electronic backup in case Shepard did need it. Of course, most of the politicians that would be speaking had aides and writers to help out with their speech. However, Shepard wrote his from the heart, something which he considered equally impressive and cheesy.

Shepard laid back on his bed, trying to relax before he needed to leave. He looked to his right, the sun was high in the air with no clouds in sight. Shepard sat in silence until he heard the door swing open to his room. Shepard sat up, looking over to see who had come in. It was Ashley, dressed up in her dress blues as well. She had fewer medals than Shepard, but she was just as significant as he was. Ashley sat next to Shepard, looking at him with care in her eyes.

"Hey Skip," she said as she kissed him briefly, "You ready for this?"

"It's a speech Ash," Shepard said to her in a somewhat condescending way, "We're not going to war with The Reapers again."

"I know, but lately you've just been more and more stressed," said Ashley, "The war took a toll on you."

"I know," Shepard said as he got up and began to walk around, "It's just..."

"Just what?" asked Ashley, "You can tell me anything Shepard." She approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder as she looked at him. "Just tell me."

"I, I killed them," said Shepard, "I killed The Geth." "I knew it would happen... and I did it."

"Shepard, you saved us," said Ashley, "I don't know if you knew that they would die... if that's what The Crucible does, destroy all synthetics including The Reapers, but you still saved all of us." "Shepard, everyone understands your choice, even Joker." "As much as it sucks, you've given all of us a future, a future free from The Reapers."

Shepard turned around and smiled, "As long as you're in that future, I'm happy." Shepard then went in and kissed Ashley passionately as they wrapped their arms around each other. The two lost track of time as they fell onto the bed.

Then, Ashley interjected, "We do actually have to get going, that's why I came here."

"Damn it," said Shepard, "Can we continue this later?"

"Totally," Ashley said as she got up from the bed and walked towards the exit. Shepard got up too, briefly jogging to catch up to Ashley as they exited the apartment together. Shepard made some minor adjustments to his suit, trying to look good for the reporters that would soon swarm him. The two reached the elevator, pressing the button up to the landing pad on the roof. The two waited till the doors opened to a small concrete hallway with a staircase that lead towards a door at the end of the hallway. They climbed the staircase and exited the door to the roof, the sun shining down on them as they entered the outside world. A small shuttle was waiting for them. Shepard and Ashley climbed into the shuttle, seeing several familiar faces in the shuttle with them.

There was Joker, who was sitting at one end of the shuttle. Sitting next to him was Traynor and Cortez. Vega was sitting next to Cortez, busy on his Omni-tool with something. On the other side, sat Chakwas with Gabby, Ken, and Adams. Shepard sat next to Vega and Ashley sat next to Adams as the shuttle doors began to close. They all were dressed in a lower form of Alliance Dress Clothes, made in particular for lower ranking Alliance Personnel, with the exception of Vega who was still an Officer. The clothes were a lighter blue, but still had a similar design to that of the officer formal dress clothes.

"Hey Loco, long time no see!" said Vega as he looked at Shepard.

Shepard laughed as he fist bumped Vega, "Indeed, how has fixing up the Earth been?"

"Great," Vega replied, "How has the paperwork associated with your job been?"

"Fantastic," Shepard sarcastically replied. He looked over at Joker who was rolling his eyes. "Speaking of work, what have you've been up to Joker?"

"Sitting around my room," said Joker. "At least everyone else gets to do actual work."

"How so?" asked Shepard.

"Cortez, Adams, Gabby, and Ken all get to go work on physical ships and all that wonderful technical shit, while I get stuck working with holographic designs of the new Normandy," Joker said, "Plus Chakwas works here at the hospital and Traynor does some weird stuff in Cairo."

"Weird stuff?" Traynor interjected, "I'll have you know that I am one of the leading experts in The Quantum Entanglement and FTL Communications at The Egyptian Institute of Advance Sciences and Advanced Engineering."

"That sounds interesting," Ashley said.

"Well, not to brag or anything," Traynor said in a somewhat innocent voice, "We do have the last working AI core in the entire galaxy." "Not that we are making AI's," Traynor quickly responded, "It wasn't affected by The Crucible for some reason."

"Any idea why?" Shepard asked.

"From what we can tell from data we've collected from the dead Reapers, The Crucible targeted Reaper based code along with advanced cybernetics," Traynor explained, "Our core was barely put together, so The Crucible's energy only slightly damaged it."

"That would explain why The Geth and EDI were... killed," Chakwas said in hesitation, mainly due to Joker's presence, "They all had Reaper Tech in them."

"Exactly," said Traynor, "That's exactly why work is so much fun, figuring out the mysteries of the universe."

"Well good for you," Joker replied.

"Hard to believe it's all over," said Ashley, "The Reapers are dead."

"We've come a long way," Chakwas said, "All of us."

"Some more than others...Vega," said Joker.

"Hey, I fought just as hard as everyone else during all of this," said Vega.

"Sorry, I'm talking about those of us that were fortunate enough to be there, chasing Saren and The Geth," Joker said, "Not just The Reapers."

"Well sorry," said Vega.

The crew chatted with one another for quite some time, catching up with one another's adventures. Shepard and Ashley recounted their latest exploits, along with their newfound engagement plans. They enjoyed their time together, knowing that after al of this each would go their separate ways again.

The shuttle began to slow down, along with the momentum of the crew in their seats. Shepard waited in his seat, the door opened after a little bit. Slowly, the crew members stepped out of the shuttle with Shepard being the last to exit.

The sun was bright in the sky, the temperature was an autumn chill that signified that winter would soon be here. A slight wind was present and drifted over Shepard's skin. Shepard eye's slowly adjusted to the clear noon sky from the dark cabin of the shuttle.

Eventually, he saw London and their location in its entirety. London was not entirely rebuilt, the sight on construction materials and half-finished buildings lined the skyline. He was standing on downward slope, just dirt with chunks of various materials were lining the ground. In front of him, stood a colossal structure that he considered a sight for sore eyes, The Conduit to The Citadel.

The Conduit was off, the white beam that he had barely made it into was gone and the familiar swirling sky was gone and replaced with the calm sky of Fall. The Bluish metal that was signature of Reaper Technology was present over all of The Conduit's base and three pointed tips. Shepard remembered the bodies that lined his path to it over a year ago. He remembered those dead trees near the base of it, the dead soldier and Reaper forces who had slaughtered one another in the course of a minute. He remembered Harbinger, who simply shot molten plasma at their puny line of men that braved the trench run.

However, all that was gone, replaced with a large stage in the front of the base. The Flags of each species flew from The Conduit, drifting gracefully in the wind. The stage had a thick red cloth that hung off the sides of it, along with a small golden line that surrounded the edges of it. Several chairs were one the stage, signifying the place of those who would speak. To the right of the stage, was a white clothed draped over what appeared to be a statue of some sort. Behind the stage was a tent, more than likely The VIP area for the speakers. People would soon arrive from all over to stand on end for hours, listening to their leaders speak.

Shepard walked forward towards Ashley, who was examining the ground in the near distance. The crew had gone around, talking to various people and examining London. He finally reached Ashley, who was picked something up of the ground.

"What's That?" Shepard asked.

"It's," Ashley stuttered to come to terms with it, "It's a piece of bone."

"What?!" Shepard replied as he went over and looked at it in Ashley's hand. The bone was a small, somewhat cube-like, yellow piece. It more than likely came from an arm or leg, Shepard saw plenty of people lose their arms and legs on his run to The Conduit, along with Ash.

"Yeah," Ashley said as she lowered her arm, "I guess there will always be scars from what happened here." Ashley was slightly shaking, dropping the bone onto the ground and kicking some dirt on it.

"Ash," Shepard said as he laid his hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just," She said as her voice slowly cracked, "I just wish I was there with you."

"You were," said Shepard.

"No, I ran away," Ashley said as she turned quickly at him.

"Ashley, you were wounded and needed an evac," Shepard shot back at her. "It's not your fault."

"I know!" Ash said with a tear forming in her eye, "But we could've saved the others, like Anderson or any number of those troops!" Ashley put her head into her hands, turning away and crying as Shepard hugged her from behind.

"Hey," he said quietly to her as she cried, "It's okay." The stood like that for the next couple of minutes as Ashley calmed down. She wiped her eyes clean, still beautiful despite their redness from the tears.

"Thanks," Ashley said as she sniffled a little, "Boom goes my feminine mystique."

"I guess," Shepard said as the both laughed. "I should go, they probably expect me over there," he said as he pointed at the stage.

"Yeah, you should go," she said, "I'll be here."

Shepard turned away from Ashley, heading down towards the stage. Shepard remembered how fast he ran to get to The Conduit, now he was just walking towards that location. Shepard stopped momentarily, looking up at The Conduit again. He realized that this was almost the exact spot where he had The Normandy pick up Ashley and Liara. He recognized the view just next to The Crucible where Harbinger towered over him. He could've swore Harbinger whispered to him, called for him, but it didn't matter now. Harbinger is dead and would forever remain dead.

Shepard retraced his steps, seeing the scars of the field. They were covered and filled in with dirt and sand, but he saw where Harbinger fired down, where every Mako and Gunship had crashed and burned. He remembered every troop vaporized, their ash scattered amongst the dirt and sand. He stopped, remembering where Harbinger screeched a final note at him before he hit Shepard.

Shepard was right in front of the stage, standing where he stumbled to get up and get to The Conduit. Shepard stood in front of the cloth that was on the stage, able to see every thread of the royal red and gold. He reached out and touched it, it was soft and felt like an expensive carpet.

"Shepard," a voice called out as he snapped out of his trance. Shepard turned to his left, where the voice originated, and saw a familiar face.

"Garrus!" Shepard shouted as he saw his friend. Garrus was dressed in his casual clothes, something which Shepard rarely saw on The Normandy. Shepard walked up to him, hugging his friend. It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd seen Garrus, but it felt like an eternity ever since The Reaper War had ended. He missed The original Normandy, it's calm atmosphere with its coolness. Kaidan, wherever he was, worked at his terminal on the sub-deck. Liara working in the lab in the back of The Medical bay. He missed that small elevator ride to The Garage. He liked seeing Garrus at work on The Mako, Wrex leaning up against his wall, Ash working on their guns. He recalled Tali, so naive and homesick. They were a bunch of kids on a goose chase in the most hi-tech ship in the galaxy.

"Good to see you to Shepard," Garrus said as Shepard backed away.

"It's been a while," Shepard smiled.

"Indeed," another voice said as Shepard looked to his right. It was Liara, dressed in her Asari scientific armor. Next to her was Tali, dressed as usual in her purple suit along with that purple smog behind her mask.

"Liara, Tali," Shepard said as he hugged the two of them. "I guess that just leaves Wrex."

"He'll be here," Liara said, "He's on his way from Tuchunka with a bunch of Krogan from his clan."

"Krogan move slow, so it'll be a while," Garrus interjected with a snarky tone.

"Goddess, it seems like it was just yesterday since we were last here," Liara said as she looked into the distance of the battlefield. The scars of the field were mostly gone, but their scars both physically and mentally were present.

"Yeah, it's still hard to comprehend all of this," Shepard said. "So, are any of you speaking today?"

"No," Garrus said, "We'll just be standing in the audience, along with all the others."

"And I'll be on stage," Shepard said, "Trying not to fall asleep."

"Well, we better get going," said Tali as she took Garrus's hand, "They probably need you back there, good luck and 'break a leg' as you humans say for some reason." The crew walked away from Shepard, more than likely going to find Ash or Joker or something else. Shepard turned around, heading out to behind the stage.

The tent was large, along with several armed guards stationed all around it. The tent was white, no visible signs of who or what was inside of it. Shepard approached the very back of it, two armed guards, both of them in Alliance blue armor, guarded a opening in the tent. Shepard approached them, pulling up his Omni-tool as he met them.

"Identification Please," the guard said.

"Because that is someone else totally wearing Commander Shepard's skin," the other guard remarked.

"Well first, it is Captain," Shepard corrected as he showed them his ID on his Omni-tool, "And Second, It's not the first time someone has questioned the fact that I might be a stranger wearing my skin."

"Wouldn't doubt it," said the second guard.

"Alright, go on in Captain," the first guard said as he saluted Shepard. Shepard briefly saluted back before entering the tent.

The inside was nothing extravagant, but still fancy for a temporary, outside building. There were several elite commandos around the inside, guarding their precious leaders. There were several monitors placed all around the room, each turned to a different news channel. The rest of the room had tables, chairs and a bunch of computers. Workers typed and modified each of the speeches. Shepard looked around, taking an empty seat near the corner to relax for the next few hours.

"Commander Shepard," a deep, scratchy voice said to Shepard as he just sat down. Shepard opened his eyes to see a familiar friend, Primarch Victus.

"Victus, good to see you," said Shepard as he got up to shake Victus's hand. "It's been a year."

"Indeed it has," said Victus, "I trust that it's been good to you."

"Well, about half of it was in a coma, but other than that it's been great," Shepard remarked.

"Even with the recent Cerberus activity?" Victus questioned, " Nobody expected this young boy to come outta nowhere and somehow gather another army."

"It does raise a bunch of questions, but I think we've got them on the run," said Shepard, "We just need to kill their generals, along with that kid, and they're done for."

"What's his angle?" Victus asked, "From what I've been told, I can't find a single reason for these attacks."

"He wants something to do with the mars data we recovered with The Crucible blueprints, but it appears to be pure madness," Shepard said, "He's young and in charge of an entire armada, a extremely volatile and dangerous situation."

"Yes; he's, as you humans say, 'full of piss and vinegar," said Victus.

Shepard groaned, "Do Turians not have metaphors or similes?"

"Yes, but they are mostly for military situations," said Victus, "'War is our business' a saying we both share."

"Yeah, you aliens have a strange fascination with our culture," Shepard remarked.

"Speaking of cultural significance, I understand that you are getting married soon," Victus said to Shepard.

"Um, yeah," Shepard choked up, "How did you?"

"Information travels quick between allies," said Victus, "Don't worry, everyone that I've talked to is fine with it."

"I'm more nervous about the media," Shepard said, "They're a bunch of vultures from my experiences."

"It's best not to worry about such things," said Victus, "They'll get over it and focus on something else after a day or two."

"Well, thanks for your understanding, I guess," Shepard said.

"Well, as long as I get an invitation, I'll be fine," Victus said.

"Deal," Shepard smiled at him.

A Turian approached Victus from behind, handing him a data pad. "Sir," the assistant said, "I've made some changes to your speech, we'd like you to rehearse it with the changes."

"Well, duty calls," said Victus, "I'll talk to you later."

Shepard sat back in his chair, closing his eyes to enjoy some peace before the speech. Shepard sat in that chair for quite some time, mainly just relaxing before his speech. He only looked over it a couple more times, making sure everything was in order. He watched as people came in and out of the tent, each of them working on one thing or another. Eventually, one person came in that Shepard had waited for.

Wrex, the only Krogan to be speaking, barged into the tent. He was wearing some Krogan dress clothes, something unusual to Shepard. They were a grayish silver, a couple of badges attached to them. Wrex came over to Shepard, grabbing him and hoisting him out of his chair.

"Shepard!" he said as he squeezed the air out of him.

"Wrex," Shepard managed to laughed as Wrex finally put him down, "How have you been?"

"Great," Wrex said as he looked around, "My people are prospering thanks to you, and Mordin."

"Well, mostly Mordin," Shepard said as he remembered Mordin's sacrifice. It was hard on him, the first of many losses of people he knew personally.

"That little Salarian redeemed an entire relationship," Wrex grunted, "So I guess he went out exactly as he would've wanted."

A small Salarian approached Wrex, trying to interject in their conversation. "Ex..excuse me, Urdnot Wrex?" The Salarian asked.

"What do you want?" Wrex chuckled at The Salarian.

"Well, um, you never submitted a formal speech to...us," he nervously stated under the immense Krogan.

"I didn't write one," Wrex stated back.

"Oh dear," The Salarian murmured as he typed some stuff into his Omni-tool, "Do you... have any idea what you're going to say?"

"No," said Wrex, "I'll say what I damn feel like I wanna say."

"Okay..." The Salarian said, "Do you have an estimated time for how long you'll be speaking for?"

"However damn long it takes," Wrex grunted.

"Ahhhhhh, um, Captain Shepard, you know Urdnot Wrex... how long do you think he'll need?" The Salarian stammered.

"However damn long it takes," Shepard laughed back.

"Okay," The Salarian quickly said as he backed away, "Thank you for your time, sirs." The Salarian quickly sped away as the two chuckled to themselves.

"They're a shaky bunch, aren't they," said Wrex.

"We all have our flaws, that guy's was a fear of Krogan, or greatness," Shepard tried to decide.

"We'll go with both," said Wrex as the two sat down together. "So, when is this ceremony of yours?"

"My wedding is in a few months, so it'll be soon," said Shepard, "These things take time to plan."

"I'll be sure to bring my group as soon as possible," Wrex said.

"Define 'group' for me," Shepard asked in curiosity.

"Me, Bakara, Mordin-the kid-, and a few hundred other Urdnots," said Wrex.

"Weddings collectively have two hundred at most," Shepard said, "So you can bring, like, ten others."

"Just stock up on food and liquor and we'll be fine," Wrex remarked.

"They'll be plenty of both, so don't worry," said Shepard.

"Good, Krogan get angry in confined and crowded spaces, so be ready," said Wrex in a semi-ominous tone towards Shepard.

"That's what the liquors for," said Shepard.

The two caught up for the next hour or so, retelling their adventures across the past four years. They recounted everything to the raid of Chora's Den to curing The Genophage. It was a true blast of nostalgia for Shepard, something which Shepard yearned for. Eventually, Wrex left to go work on other things, mainly to ease the tensions over the fact he would completely improvise his speech with no help. Shepard sat back in his chair again, trying to relax before his speech.

Shepard felt nervous, a lot more than he had felt a couple hours ago. He had heard the sounds of a growing crowd just outside the tent. He knew that billions would be watching, waiting for him to speak. However, he knew that they needed inspiration. Shepard stretched his arms out, a couple of cracks coming out as he did it.

Eventually, a person came towards Shepard after a little bit. "Captain, it's time to start the ceremony," the man said to him. He got up, his gut in knots and worry in his mind. Shepard approached the entrance of the tent and left with the others. Outside, he could hear the chatter of the crowd as people got on stage. He turned around towards the stage, stepping up onto the stage via a pair of stairs near the back.

Shepard got up there, seeing all the people that had come. There were thousands, filling up the entire space around the stage. They were of all species: Humans, Turians, Asari, Salarian, Batarians, Volus, Hanar, Krogan, Quarian, Drell, Elcor, Shepard even saw a few Vorcha. One species Shepard didn't see was The Raloi. The Raloi, a bird like species new to the galaxy, hid away on their planet when The Reapers arrived. The made no contact to the outside world, and nobody really attempted to look for them. Maybe they were dead, maybe not; either way it would be a while before they came out of their shell. Shepard also didn't see any Yahg, obviously due to their violent nature and technological inferiority to the rest of the galaxy.

Shepard took a seat next to Wrex, both looking out to the audience for people they knew. Shepard couldn't see anyone, not Ash, Liara, Tali, Garrus, or Joker. There were so many people out there, enough to make Shepard wonder if they were even out there. Of course, he knew that they were somewhere in the sea of people. It was seemingly endless, people still arriving just over the horizon. Hundreds of Cameras were placed all around the area, filming their every movement. Shepard also noticed two large hovering monitors about halfway into the crowd, more than likely to give the people far enough away from the stage a close up on the people.

"You draw quite the crowd Shepard," a voice said to him.

"Madame Councilor," Shepard said to The Asari Councilor, "It's good to see you."

"The same to you, you gave us quite a scare a year ago," the councilor said.

"Well, I'm a survivor," said Shepard proudly, "It's one of my more attractive characteristics in battle."

"Well, that's why we made you the first Human Spectre," said The Councilor, "That and you're persistence saved us all."

"Not all of us," Shepard remarked with a look of sadness in his eye.

"You saved more than most could," said The Asari as she walked away from Shepard. She took her seat next to the other Councilors, who Shepard didn't see come into the tent. They all took their seats within the next couple of minutes, until An Asari walked up to the podium stationed in the center front of the stage. She was dressed in a black religious suit, somewhat similar to Benezia's on Noveria.

"Good Afternoon," she stated into the microphone, "We would like to begin today with a minute of silence in honor of all those who were lost in this terrible war." "So if you could all join me in that minute now," she said as she bowed her head.

The crowds roar turned into an immediate hush, quicker than he thought possible. He saw many people bow their heads, close their eyes, or just look of into the distance in silence. Shepard wasn't one for prayer most of the time, he believed in God, but didn't know what to say or ask for half the time. Ashley, on the other hand, prayed a lot. She wasn't any religious zealot, but she found comfort in it. However, Shepard knew she'd be praying right now and he decided to join her, even if not physically together.

"Dear God," Shepard thought to himself, "I know that I've killed many, far more then I have ever wished." "I know you aren't going to make the dead come to life again, or somehow tell me my actions are justified, but I feel like..." Shepard really couldn't think of what to say. "God, I'm sorry for killing EDI, and The Geth, and all the others along the way, but if they are somehow up there with you; tell them that I am sorry." The minute seemed like forever, but it came to an end.

"Peace be upon all of you," said The Asari to break the silence, "And now, a Traditional Human Twenty One gun salute with a diverse armed guard."

Shepard looked and saw the seven guards come into view. There was a Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, a Drell from The Hanar World, A Quarian, A Volus, and a Krogan. The Human lead the pack, lining them up next to the statue that was covered. They pointed towards the sky, keeping a straight aim until the Human spoke up.

"Fire," he said in a loud, stern tone. The shots were blanks, but rung throughout the silence of the crowd. They took a brief pause, then fired again after another shout from the guard. The repeated the process one last time, then lowered their guns down. The marched off into the back, rejoining the crowd after a little bit.

Next, came the speeches. The Turian Primarch was up first, breaking the ice with the crowd. He talked about the destruction of Palaven, how he had been next in line to lead during this crucial hour. He talked about being on The Normandy, and forming a new alliance with The Krogan, Thanks to Mordin, Shepard, and Wrex. He finished with a prayer-like saying about The Spirits, Turian's religious item.

The Councilors spoke next, The Turian, Then Salarian, and finally The Asari. They spoke almost about the same thing, The Cerberus Coup. Another thing which was mentioned from all of them was how they ignored Shepard's warnings. Especially, The Turian Councilor; he had dismissed Shepard warnings instantly and with, what Shepard referred to as, "sass."

Then. The Salarian Dalatrass Spoke, easing the hostilities with The Krogan. She never mentioned how she secretly tried to continue The Genophage with Shepard, but Shepard and Wrex knew of her crimes. However, they knew that grudges would solve nothing, so they put it aside.

Next, was Wrex. Shepard, and all of them had waited for him to speak. They all wanted to see what he had to say. The Krogan lumbered towards the microphone, grabbing the podium in a haste.

"I've got nothing to say, except we've kick The Reapers straight in the quad!" Wrex shouted triumphantly towards the audience. The crowd either cheered or laughed, both sounded the same. Shepard was trying to hold in his laughter, turning his head and laughing into his shoulder. Wrex didn't go back to his seat, but rather left the stage entirely. Shepard, and everyone else on the stage, had no idea on what had just happened. So many questions, and so few answers.

"I knew we should've got Bakara to speak," Shepard heard The Turian Councilor say to The Turian Primarch.

The rest of the speeches seemingly went on and on forever. There were so many representatives from so many species. Shepard heard everyone from a Elcor recite a piece from Hamlet, to the now President of Earth stumble through his speech. The ceremony had gone on for what seemed like a day, but was really four hours. Finally, it was time for Shepard to speak.

"And now, our final speaker," The Asari said into the microphone, "A man who led all of us through this war and out again, Captain Shepard."

Shepard got up, his legs still asleep from all of this. The crowd had erupted into a huge cheer for Shepard. Shepard felt depressed despite the cheers, they didn't know the full story. He had killed so many, destroyed many families. Who knew who would never know the embrace of their lover, or child again. Shepard realized they needed a hero, someone who could tell them that it was alright and that they would be safe. So, despite what his soul and body ached for, he decided that he would keep everything that had transpired up on The Citadel a secret. Because they would never understand, and worst of all, forgiven him for these crimes.

"This war," Shepard said into the microphone, his voice somewhat shaky tone, "This war has taken so much from all of us." "There are billions of mothers who will never see their children again, billions of children who will never see their parents again." "Trillions of lives for thousands of years to come will be effected by these events."

"But it's over," Shepard smiled as he looked into the distance, "The Reapers are gone, after many millennia of terrorizing the species of this galaxy, we can live in peace." "Our children and children's children will never have to worry about threats such as these again."

"And while the peace may be short term, but hopefully long term, we can achieve everything we've ever dreamed of now that we are truly united," Shepard said. "As a young man, I lost my parents to a Batarian raid on my home planet of Mindoir." "It was because of this, I joined The Alliance to see the world and bring those who terrorized innocents to justice." "I strove to become the best I could during my training, joining the ranks of The N7 marines, the most elite group of Alliance marines."

"I severed in many missions, but the only one that stands out to me is my survival of a rescue mission to Akuze," Shepard said, "It was there that I lost most of my friends, including my best friend, Frank Mason." "Mason had always been with me since I first went through boot camp when I was eighteen." "He saved me that day, sacrificing himself to try to save the others."

"After this, I served in several other squads until I joined The Normandy team where I would go on to discover all of this," Shepard reminisced, "I would gather a rag tag group of what some would call misfits and we chased down Saren and brought him to justice. It was him that showed me the return of The Reapers, and his plan to assist them with their harvest." "I would become a hero to many, but a target for many to."

"I.. I died at the hands of The Collectors a few weeks later," Shepard struggled to explain, "Thanks to Cerberus, I somehow survived all of this." "They promised me help against The Reapers, but would later betray me after I refused to steep to their level to 'serve' humanity." "I gathered another team, taking down The Collectors and saving the galaxy again."

"I was right after that I was forced to destroy The Alpha Relay, killing over three hundred thousands," Shepard said, "I had no choice, to save Trillions and prepare for their invasion, I destroyed The Relay." "I willing was taken in by The Alliance, trying to warn them about The Reapers." "However, The Reapers came in full force, but we beat them."

"I've lost many of my friends along the way, my friend Kaidan Alenko was lost on Virmire, I lost Mordin Solus, Legion, Thane Krios, and my mentor David Anderson in the pursuit against The Reapers," said Shepard, "I never forgot them about them those final moments on The Citadel, after The Illusive Man died in his pursuit of power." "And while Cerberus did provide me shelter at one point, they changed into something entirely different than what they were founded in pursuit of."

"The Crucible destroyed all Reaper Technology, including The Geth," Shepard said, "Not a day goes by that I don't think about how their independence was cut short, but it had to be done." "However, we shall honor the fallen, because without them, none of us could ever be here right now." Shepard stepped away from the microphone, applause from the crowd coming shortly after. Shepard took his seat next to Wrex again, trying to get past the fact he couldn't tell of The Catalyst and his choices.

The Asari stepped up to the podium again, saying, "And now, before you all go, we would like to reveal The Statue of The Fallen." Several men pulled the cloth off of the statue, revealing it fully. It was made of stone, much like those back on The Citadel. There was a member of each known species on a circular platform, circling around each other. In the center, was a Citadel Council Flag that would represent their unity. The Alliance marine, who was facing the audience at the time, was holding an Omni-Blade up to the sky and had a pistol in his other had. The other races had their own weapons, holding them in their own fashion.

The Ceremony ended after this, people piling out of the crowd to go home after standing for so many hours. Shepard got up, heading out behind the tent to talk to others, but to be honest, he just wanted to go home and take a nap.

* * *

"We got a ship incoming," said a lady in the control chair to the docking room. The room was a standard Cerberus style control room, a couple of people were on call. The TV monitor in the room was tuned into the local news channel, still discussing the recent events of the ceremony.

"Base to Shuttle One, please provide pass code for permission to dock," the lady said.

"Cerberus is my sword and shield," a voice came over the intercom.

"Permission Granted, welcome back," the lady said as she watched the shuttle come into view. It was an unmarked personal shuttle, a reddish tint to the metal made it reflect of the lights of the base. The shuttle came through the barrier to the docking bay. It smoothly landed onto a pad as a couple of troops came out to greet the arrival.

The door opened, revealing a young man in a black suit. He got out of the shuttle, the troops all saluting him as he passed by them. He stopped in front of the man at the end of the line of troops. He looked up at the man, who he felt towering above him.

"I trust that the ceremony was enjoyable, Mikhail," said the man.

"I'm surprised you didn't go, Shepard would've enjoyed seeing you again," Mikhail said back to him as the two walked together into the base.

"Our reunion will occur soon enough, but I don't think that it was needed there," the man said as he reached into Mikhail's pocket. He grabbed a single cigarette, putting it into his mouth as he lit it with his own lighter. Mikhail grabbed one too, lighting up with the man.

"The plan of attack is scheduled after the next week," said Mikhail, "I'll lead a team towards the critical meeting point."

"And you expect Shepard to take part in this pursuit," the man asked.

"He'll come after me," Mikhail said, "If I die, then at least he'll go out with me."

"I would hope that I'd get to meet The Captain before he dies," said the man, "However, I don't know what you expect to find on your wild goose chase, you keep this plan of yours to yourself."

"My plan is my business and mine only, at least till it is achievable," Mikhail said, "But the data is the key."

"Then go get it," said the man.

"In time, in due time," Mikhail said as he walked away from the man.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So it's been a while. Update with myself, I got laid off from my part time job due to my sinking performance due to my hatred for the place and sank into a depression for about a month or so. I visited Chicago and examined the fine arts. I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life in general. So, It's been a while since I wrote, so I apologize if it's a little bit below standard.

* * *

Shepard was in the forest again, a sight that he had become all too familiar with during his dreams. He knew he was dreaming, the familiar features of the trees and the sky coming back into his minds. However, this one was one of the few dreams that were different. The trees had leaves, a dull green that contrasted with the browning oak of bark. The sky was cloudy, but bright blue shades peered outward from the clouds through various little openings left between the sheet of clouds. Several small yellow birds chirped and quickly flew between branches of the trees. The ground was still grey with stones, but life still sprung up from itself barren-like texture.

Shepard was in his armor, as usual. He didn't have any of his weapons or his equipment, so he felt rather naked in his armor. He walked slowly through the forest, the sound of the stones clanked against his metallic boots. Birds flew above him, not caring about his presents. Shepard took a deep breath, the smell of the forest filled his nostrils. He felt the soft breeze flow through his hair and he closed his eyes, embracing the feel.

He eventually came to a river within the forest. The sounds of the water entered his ears, their rushing rhythm against the rocks and logs of the forest caressed him into a peaceful meditation. Shepard looked to his right, seeing a large log that created a miniature waterfall for the river. As Shepard walked to it, he seemingly stepped out of his boots, revealing his bare legs. He sat on the log, putting his legs in water as the water rushed past his body. He felt his armor melt away as the water got warmer, thicker, and began to rise around his body. He shut his eyes, enjoying every second of bliss the river provided.

Eventually, Shepard felt the water suddenly stop around his neck, the warm current swirling around him. He opened his eyes, revealing he was now in a small, oasis of water in the forest. The river had disappeared along with Shepard's armor, but he was still in the forest. Shepard felt the water the water flow through his body, its hot and bubbly made Shepard feel that he was in a stasis of some sort. However, something broke all of this.

It was a loud, horn; similar to that of The Reapers. However; he knew that is was not the Reapers. This tone was high-pitched and was played off and on again. The sound broke Shepard from the dream, everything suddenly whisked away from him as he tried to block the noise. Shepard couldn't make the sound go away, and his dream was broken.

Shepard gasped as he awoke in bed, a couple beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. He pushed the button on his alarm clock, ending the beeping rhythm that broke his dream. Shepard was alone in the bed, looking around at his room. The clock said 9:00, early, but not nearly enough for a few more hours of sleep. Shepard had the blankets wrapped around himself, much like a cocoon of cloth. He got out of the bed, still dressed in his boxers. Shepard noticed the large glass bottle of Tequila on his nightstand, only a couple more shots remained inside. Shepard grabbed the bottle, downing the shots as he walked over to the stairs. He coughed as he emptied the bottle, the hard liquor struggling to go down his throat.

The apartment was a mess, his bed completely unmade and various clothes thrown about the place. He thanked God that The Alliance had a cleaning service for these rooms, otherwise it'd be a total disaster zone, as if The Reapers destroyed it with filth. Shepard tossed the bottle in the recycling, a hole marked near the others labeled garbage and compost. He walked towards the bathroom, getting ready for another day of work.

Personally, he couldn't wait for a vacation. All he wanted to do was sit on a beach somewhere and forget about all of this. Forget about Cerberus and all of this crazy stuff. Deep down, he knew that he may never get that day of peace, but he was damn sure gonna give it all he could. Besides, he took on The Reapers and won so, theoretically, this would be a piece of cake.

After his shower and morning ritual, Shepard learned he had no food in his room. There was a single tomato in his fridge and he had some beer. So rather than starve himself, he decided to venture down to the staff cafeteria. So, he hiked downstairs and managed to find a nice table located near the corner of the room.

The cafeteria itself was nice, a carpeted floor along with dark blue painted walls and dim lighting. It felt more like a college or hospital cafeteria then a military grade one. Then again, the war was over and they were trying to rebuild society from the ground up. So, maybe they were trying to redefine 't themselves as creators rather than destroyers. Shepard didn't really think about it too much, mainly because he really didn't care about it.

"Hey there," he heard next to him as he took a single bit of his hash browns. He swallowed and looked to his right and saw his fiancé, Ashley. She was wearing the regular Alliance casuals, along with her hair put up into a single ponytail. She wasn't wearing much makeup, something which really didn't bother Shepard since women around him realized makeup would only get in the way of the job. She was carrying a tray with a few pancakes and a glass of orange juice.

"Hey there Ash," Shepard said as she sat down across from him. "It seems like forever since we've talked."

"Yeah, it's just been busy for me these past couple of days," Ashley said, "Can I ask you something Shepard?"

"Sure," he said as he leaned back a little bit in his chair.

"Who all knows about us?" Ashley asked as she took a sip of OJ.

"The Admirals and our friends," Shepard said.

"I just feel like we shouldn't be ashamed of us," Ashley replied in a stern tone.

"I'm not," Shepard said, "It's all politics, no one wants us to make a spectacle of things."

"We saved the goddamn galaxy, the least they could do is just let us be!" Ashley demanded.

"I know," said Shepard, "It'll come out eventually, but I know there's gonna be a huge shit storm when it all goes down." Shepard looked at Ashley, whose eyes seemingly drooped down as she continued to eat her food.

"Ash...I love you, and nothing will ever come between us," Shepard said as he put his hand atop of hers.

She smiled, "I know, I guess just all the wedding planning and these Cerberus stuff has made me kinda stressed."

"I know," Shepard said. He felt bad for not being more involved in the wedding planning. Sure, he went to places with Ash and checked out flower arrangements, photo arrangements, and even the church itself; however, he felt bad that Ash was stressed. "Just a few more months and will be married and relaxing on a beach somewhere."

"I hope so, I could use a tan," Ashley quietly laughed.

* * *

The Citadel was buzzing with life. Cars zoomed just overhead as they headed along their marked flight path. The florescent lights of the landscape had come back, at least on Zakera Ward. The Wards were reconnected and being repaired to the Presidium, and were mostly intact. The Citadel was still overhead of Earth, a beautiful view was visible at any point of this massive space station.

"Can we get the shot set up here," a women said on the balcony of a nearby building. "I want the report to have a nice landscape shot of this area."

"Yes Miss Wong," a Salarian man said as he worked on positioning the lighting bots to focus on Emily Wong. Wong had gone through a lot this past year, barely managing to survive The Reaper occupation of Earth and living out in the wilderness. She had gotten a job for The Citadel News Network and was currently reporting on the repairs of The Citadel.

"Okay, Miss Wong, we're about a minute to air!" an Asari said as she talked to another party through her headset. Emily positioned herself in front of the lights and camera. She brushed her hair and shoulders, trying to look good for the upcoming report. She looked around, making sure every last thing was in order.

"Okay and we are live in... 3, 2," the Asari said as she motioned towards Emily. A small monitor in the background began to play the news feed of another reporter on the network. "And now, let's cut over to Emily Wong who is currently reporting on the reconstruction of The Citadel," the reporter said on the television. The Asari motioned towards Emily to begin speaking.

"Thank you Carl," Emily cheerfully replied with a smile on her face. "As you can see, I am currently standing in the bustling Zakera Ward." "Life has slowly begun to come back to this devastated area." "Clubs, and banks have rebuilt and are leading the pack in restoration." "While according to many sources, including both Alliance and Council officials, it may be years until The Citadel is able to fully move back into its original location."

"Tell me Emily, how exactly will The Citadel be moved back to its original location?" the reporter on the television asked.

"It's a complex task, due to its stature; but the way it would work includes The Citadel retracting its arms and using it, like a large ship, to traverse The Relays," Emily Wong stated, "This would ultimately take a few hours, but..."

Emily Wong was cut off by what sounded like a large collision in the distance. She turned her head to the right, facing down towards The Presidium and where she heard the large noise. She gasped, and the crew seemingly each had their own reactions.

There, in the distance, was a large explosion that appear at one of the main points between The Wards and The Presidium. There were a couple more just like it around the other focal points of The Wards. The crew started to panic, a few of them breathless at the spectacle.

"I'm sorry, there appears to be a large explosion at the," Emily struggled to come to the right words. Several police cars came flying by the balcony. They were blaring their sirens and heading towards the source of the explosion.

"I don't know what happened, it is most likely an industrial accident of some sort, but that's completely speculation," Emily said into the camera. "My crew and I are going to try to get closer to the explosion and see what has happened." "Until then, we'll try to remain in contact as best we can." The camera shut off as the crew began to pack things up as quickly as possible.

"There's no way I'm heading down there!" a man said as he threw some cords into a large container. The rest of the crew agreed as they scrambled to move. Emily grabbed a camera from one of the crew and said, "Fine, I'll head down there myself."

"What if it's terrorists or Reapers or.." The Asari said as she threw another camera into a bin.

"The Reapers are dead, and I know your scared, but it's our duty to report what's going on to those in danger!" Emily tried to convince her crew.

"Fuck that!" a crew member cried as they rushed towards the elevator. Emily watched as her crew slowly left her alone with nothing but a camera. Emily turned towards her right again, looking at the newly risen smoke across the horizon of The Presidium.

"Well, her goes nothing," Emily said as she tried to hail a cab.

* * *

20 Minutes Earlier

The water of the artificial lake shimmered in the dull light of The Presidium. Life there was calm, only about ten people were in sight across the lake. The air was fresh and filled with the scent of freshly planted flowers. The embassy part of The Presidium had been quickly fixed and had little signs of damage left. There was a peaceful sound of birds and the cars flying above.

A man leaned forward on a railing by the lake, a black suitcase near his feet. He looked across and slightly to his left, admiring the large statue known as The Conduit. Some yellow flowers graced a platform surrounding the base of the statue. He turned around and leaned back against the railing. A couple men were approaching him, each of them carrying a similar briefcase.

"Let's go," one of the men approaching said to him. He joined them after picking up his briefcase. The three continued to walk together, across the bridge that led towards The Conduit. They curved around it, looking across the lake to see a couple of C-SEC officers eyeing them.

"Just keep moving, don't arouse suspicion," one of the men said as they approached the elevator near The Conduit. They pressed the button to summon it and waited. Eventually, the elevator came to them and they got in it. One of the man typed in a code in the keypad, allowing the elevator to go down into the maintenance levels. The elevator slowly began to move downward, building up speed as it headed into the depths of The Citadel.

The elevator door slid down, opening up to a maintenance level. It was still recognizable as part of The Presidium, but with a few more pipes and wires visible. The neon white material of The Presidium covered the walls and floor. The three men walked forward, into the long hallway in front of them. They turned left after walking for a little bit, only the light of the levels above them lit their way. They reached a staircase, only leading further down. They hurried as quickly as they could, trying to fly down to the bottom of the staircase. Eventually, they reached a clearing at the bottom.

It was extremely dark; they could only see a few feet ahead. There were about twenty other men down there, in an area no larger than an average hallway. These areas were only regularly traversed by Keepers and the occasional man. It was hot and muggy, which the large amount of people down there didn't help. The men, and women, were dressed in Cerberus armor, and getting their weapons ready. They had hidden all of their supplies in large crates used by the average cargo ship. Inside these crates, the armor and guns were packed as close as possible.

The three men walked through the crowd of people, trying to find their way. Near the end of the group stood their leader, Mikhail. He was dressed in a full suit of armor. The armor was brand new, and had a dark onyx color to it. He held an avenger assault rifle, along with a pistol on his hip. He was checking the thermal clip, making sure it was in place.

"Sir," one of the men said as he handed him the briefcase.

Mikhail opened the suitcase up, taking out a large metallic clip. The two others opened up their suitcases, handing him other pieces. One of them was a piece with a few wires and the other appeared to be a metallic rod full of some liquid. Mikhail attached the rod to the piece, so the two ran parallel next to each other. The piece with the wires was then slid onto the clip, and the wires plugged into little sockets located on both of the pieces. He turned the device on, a few beeps confirmed it was ready to be used. Mikhail got up and tossed the device to one of his engineers, who then ran off down the hallway.

"Okay," Mikhail raised his voice to talk to the group, "Here's the plan." "We've got bombs placed on all five wards, and several teams are in place to create a distraction as soon as the authorities arrive to see what happened." "Now, this attack has been planned so that The Council's security is lighter than usually, due to the fact that they are not on The Citadel." "Now, me and a team of elites will ride this elevator up to The Council's chambers and proceed to make are way to the head of the chambers." "We have three objectives: Number 1; recover all possible data about The Crucible and what it did to The Citadel during its attachment. Number 2; Attempt to steal all possible data files on Council operations and Spectre agent assignments. And Three; learn as much as you can on The Council's anti-Cerberus strategies."

"Mikhail," a voice came from behind, "How long do we have to do all this?"

"We'll have about twenty minutes until we get overwhelmed when the bombs go off," Mikhail responded. Mikhail turned to look at his associate, and laughed, "Wearing N7 armor?"

"I find it appropriate," he said. His N7 armor was highly scarred and several burn marks were visible all around it. A large Cerberus insignia was tattooed onto the center of it, but the N7 itself was still like new. He carried a large N7 assault rifle, along with a sniper rifle and shotgun slung across his back in a half hazard fashion.

"I'd say it's more of ironic than appropriate," Mikhail said.

"Whatever," he said, "It'll send a statement to everyone who sees it."

"That it will," Mikhail said as he motioned for the troops to move.

"Alright, everyone get to your appropriate stations, and remember your objectives!" Mikhail yelled as he moved towards the staircase. A group of about ten, including the N7 armored man, followed behind him. The elites were all dressed in pitch black Cerberus armor, carrying the finest Cerberus weapons. They climbed the stairs, the large clanks of metal filled the tiny hallways of the industrial depths of The Citadel. They got to the top of the stairs, slowly walking towards the elevator. They all stepped in, making sure everything was ready for the upcoming onslaught.

Mikhail pressed the button for The Council chambers. He then brought his Omni-tool up, saying into his radio. "All teams, operation is a go, repeat, operation is a go." Then, after a few seconds, there elevator lightly shook as the felt the recoil of several large explosions. As they got higher and higher up, the results of the explosion were evident out of the looking glass.

"Alright," Mikhail said as he got his Avenger out and looked at the man in the N7 armor, "You ready?"

"Trust me, I've had plenty of experience with these types of operations," he said as the elevator slowed down. The door slid down, and the pinkish atmosphere of the Council chambers filled their eyes. the smell of cherry blossoms filled there nostrils along with the hypnotic sounds of the fountain. They stepped out, holding their guns up. A council guard suddenly looked at them, raising his pistol.

"Holy Fu!" was all he said as The N7 man shot him straight in the head with one shot. He fell down, every sound piercing the atmosphere of the room.

"MOVE!" he yelled as the team began to fire at the guards in sight. They Council's team was scrambled, and utterly confused by what was going on. The ambassadors and politicians ran for their life, trying to get into whatever room they would be safe in. Mikhail made his way up the staircase, shooting his gun at a nearby Asari. He missed several times, trying to accurately aim down his sights. Suddenly, The Asari fell to the ground as the man in the N7 armor shot her.

"Breath," he said to Mikhail, "You're shaken, just relax." The two moved on, shooting as their team made their way up the staircases. The chambers were designed so invaders, like Cerberus, would have an extremely bad tactical disadvantage. However, they were slaughtering everyone in sight. Eventually, they made it to the final staircase. In their way, stood a line of troops ready to mow down Cerberus. The N7 man grabbed a pair of grenades, tossing them forward so that they just landed behind the line of guards. They exploded, rocketing several of the men forward and killing most of them. The team proceeded forward, killing those who were still alive.

"Holy shit," said one of the men, "You..." He raised his hand at the armored N7 man. He turned, looking at the wounded man. He was clearly bleeding out, a large chunk of both his legs was missing. The N7 man walked forward, kneeling down in front of him. he reached down, grabbing the dog tags of the wounded man.

"Captain Peterson, N7?" The man said as he read the tags.

"You... you died!" the wounded man gasped as the N7 man continued to look at the tags, "How the fuck did you survive?" "I saw those goddamn reports, you fucking died!"

"I got better," he said as he pulled his shotgun out and aimed at the man's head.

"Such a shame, Shepard would be disappointed!" the wounded man grimaced. Then, right after he said that, the N7 man shot The Captain in the head. The blast killed him instantly and blew large chunks of flesh all across the floor. He turned around, holstering his shotgun as he walked up the stairs. A the top, the team was taking position as Mikhail was looking at the large master computer screen.

"Anything?" asked one of the elites.

"Yeah," Mikhail said, "I've got some stuff, but nothing on The Crucible."

The N7 man walked up to Mikhail, "Who cares, we've got everything we need against The Council."

"No, I need that data," Mikhail said as he brushed back The N7 troop, "There appears to be some data available, but it's on another server."

"You can't access it?" The N7 man asked.

"Yeah, but it has to be manually because this server is isolated from the master network," Mikhail said as he typed in a few commands, "The server is located above us..." An electronic panel slid open, lowering a small metal ladder down next to them. Mikhail turned around walking towards it. "I'm going up there, I'll be down in just a few minutes, then we can go."

Mikhail climbed the ladder, slowly as to keep his balance. He got to the top, climbing his way into the dark small paneling. Up there, was a bunch of wiring along with some electronic monitors. He slammed open another panel above him, opening up a larger area.

The area was a large circular platform, all of it was metallic. The ceiling was made of electronic regulators, each of them shooting off the occasional bolt of electricity to another. The room had a purplish darkness to it, with only the bolts of electricity lighting it up. Mikhail walked around, trying to find some sort of command console. Eventually, he came across one place near the end. He typed a couple of words into it, which cued an observation window to open up in front of him. The view was magnificent, almost something you would see out of a photograph. Mikhail continued to type into the computer, trying to get that data.

"The data... is on the surface?" Mikhail said as he examined the results. "Guys, I'm heading outside," Mikhail said into his radio, "The server is out there, I might need extraction via shuttle."

"We've got about five minutes boss, some back-up teams are on their way up," a women chimed over the radio.

"It'll be fine, just be ready," Mikhail said as he summoned another ladder to the surface down. Mikhail got his oxygen supplies ready and began to climb the ladder.

* * *

Shepard sat in his seat on the shuttle. He had just learned about an attack on The Citadel. Him and Ashley got their stuff and proceeded to head towards The Citadel. Shepard was watching the smoke rise on the monitor across from him. In the shuttle, he was joined by Ashley and a few other Alliance soldiers.

"Admiral Hackett incoming for you," said the pilot to Shepard.

"Put him through," Shepard responded.

"Shepard," Hackett said, "Shepard are you there?"

"This is Shepard," he said to Hackett.

"It's a total shitstorm down there Captain," Hackett said, "We've got Cerberus troops all over the place." "We're dropping you guys off at Zakera Ward, hopefully there you can cross over into The Presidium." "I need you to get to The Council's chambers, Cerberus is held up in there and resisting everything we're throwing at them."

"What's there end goal sir?" Ashley asked.

"We don't know, but it's more than likely a run for information and classified documents, " Hackett stated, "I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if they get their hands on it." "Hackett out."

The shuttle doors opened, revealing a thick cloud of black smoke. The crew stepped out, getting ready to fight. They were in a docking bay, highly damaged from the blast. Several cars were lying all around in smoky ruins. Shepard pulled his gun out, walking up to the door and forcing it open. The scanner that detects weapons was still on, but was acting erratic from damage. Shepard and the crew walked through, a few beeps sounding off from the presence of their guns. Shepard opened the door at the end of the scanning bay, revealing several laser sights.

"Whoa!" Shepard said as they almost fired at him. In front of him, was a familiar face, Miranda Lawson. She was dressed in Alliance blue armor and was holding a modified SMG. She was with a group of soldiers, who were recovering from their wounds. The Presidium was in sight, along with its artificial sky.

"Shepard," Miranda sighed as she lowered her gun. "It's been hell down her."

"Miranda, what's the situation?" Shepard asked as the new crew began to arrive in the bay.

"Most of the troops have retreated into The Presidium," Miranda said, "They're running low on supplies and we're getting ready for the final assault."

"I need to get to The Council's chambers," Shepard said.

"We're dropping off right by there, so you can take an elevator up," Miranda said as she looked around. "Shepard...how the hell did Cerberus manage to do this?"

"I don't know, Cerberus apparently just has enough money and supplies to attempt these little operations," Shepard said as he walked towards one of the cars. He tried to open it, but the door fell of the car after he simply touched it.

The door to the right of them opened, resulting in everyone jumping to aim at whatever was coming at them. However, they only saw a tattered and wounded women enter.

"Emily Wong?" Shepard asked as he saw her limp towards him. the dress she was wearing was torn and she was bruised. Her hair and makeup was a mess and she was gasping for air. Shepard ran towards her, helping her towards the nearby field doctor."What happened?" Shepard asked.

"I tried to report on what was happening," she said, "I got caught up in the crossfire, took a bullet from a Cerberus grunt."

The doctor examined her leg, dried blood was all over it. "I'm applying some Med-gel, but you'll need some surgery to remove the shrapnel." "Other than that, you'll be fine."

"Thank you," Emily said as she looked at Shepard, "Shepard," she coughed a little, "Mikhail's up in the chamber, I overheard some troops say it."

"Good to know," Shepard said as he turned around." He saw an Alliance shuttle stop at their location and open it's doors. "Let's go!" Shepard shouted as he ran towards it. the crew hopped in the shuttle, taking off towards The Presidium.

The shuttle pierced the artifical sky of The Presidium, revealing the beautiful landscape beneath. Some troops were scattered under them, but this attack was nothing compared to The Coup a year ago. The shuttle landed near the former Human embassy, which was now the office complex of some tax company. Shepard got off the shuttle, looking around.

"There's almost nobody here," Shepard said.

"Yeah," Ashley said, "Looks like most of the other guards finished the job."

"Guys," Miranda said as she was listening to a radio feed, "Apparently, Cerberus is evacuating to Earth..."

"Earth?" said Ashley, "That's a goddamn suicide mission!" "Why the hell are they going there?"

"I don't know, apparently, there making their last stand there," said Miranda, "However, we should still continue on our mission."

"Right," said Shepard, "Let's go secure the chambers." The crew began to move towards the elevator to The Council's chambers. They encountered only a few troops that were left behind to guard the way, but they were little challenge to a regiment of trained Alliance soldiers. They got to the elevator, summoning it. Shepard looked over at The Conduit, which brought back many memories to Shepard.

The elevator came down and they loaded down onto it. Shepard pressed the button to the chambers, sending it upward. The crew waited, not knowing what was at the top of their ride.

"Is this elevator always this slow?" asked Miranda.

"Yep," Shepard and Ashley both said.

The door slid open, revealing the Councils' chambers. The crew ran out, meeting head on with a group of elite Cerberus Soldiers. They exchanged fire, bullets hitting everything in the room. The cherry blossoms of the trees around them began to fly all over the place, landing even in Shepard's hair. A lot of The Alliance troops were shot down, but Shepard, Ashley, Miranda, and a few others managed to overcome the odds.

Shepard walked forward, up the final staircase to were The Council normally met. He stood in the exact spot where he was made a Spectre four years ago. Miranda ran up next to him, summoning up the control console to learn what Cerberus had done.

Shepard looked to his right, "What's with the ladder?"

"I think Mikhail went up there," Ashley said, "He's not among the bodies."

"Shepard, can you go check, I've gotta see what Cerberus downloaded from these files," Miranda said. Shepard nodded and headed towards the ladder, jumping onto it and climbing up it as fast as he could. Shepard eventually got to the top, looking around at an all too familiar sight.

It was the place where he confronted The Illusive Man, the place where Captain Anderson died. He had a lot of bad memories here, almost remembering every last word said in this room. Shepard looked around, the room still exactly the same as it was the last time he was here. The only difference was that the blood stains were cleaned up and another ladder was in the room. Up that ladder, was access to the surface of the tower. Shepard walked up to it, grabbing hold to climb up it.

"Would rather take the elevator, but I don't know how it works," Shepard joked to himself as he climbed up. The surface of the tower had a supply of Oxygen around it, so it made it okay to access without a helmet.

Shepard reached the surface, climbing up through an open paneling. Up there, was another familiar sight. Everything was the same, with the exception of the absence of The Crucible. Shepard looked around, remembering everything that had happened here. He didn't like being here, it brought back too many memories. Ahead of him, stood a single figure in black armor that was interacting with a holographic console.

Shepard raised his gun, slowly stepping forward. He knew that this was Mikhail, and that he finally had him. Part of Shepard wanted to simple gun him down right where he stood; however, he knew that his superiors would rather bring him in alive. Shepard continued forward, and Mikhail continued to seem oblivious to Shepard's approach.

"Mikhail," Shepard yelled, "Hands behind your head, now!" Mikhail stopped typing, and began to slowly raise his hands. Shepard continued to aim down his gun, approaching Mikhail.

Then, almost within the blink of an eye, Shepard stopped. A couple pieces of The Citadel shot up, wedging themselves between Shepard's body. Out of pure reaction, Shepard dropped his gun and tried to pry himself out of the trap. Shepard couldn't move his lower body, and couldn't reach his gun.

Mikhail turned around, laughing as he approached Shepard. "Shepard, good to see you again," Mikhail said.

"What the hell is this?" Shepard grunted as he continued to try to get out.

"It's a trap," Mikhail said, "I figured that you would come for me, so I took protective matters."

"Smart, but I don't think that leaving yourself alone while your lackeys escape is smart," Shepard said, "So, answer me this, what do you hope to gain from this little scheme of your?"

"I had my reasons, and came here to accomplish them," Mikhail said as he turned around, "However, something else came up that changed my plans."

"What exactly came up?" Shepard asked.

"I think this will speak for itself," Mikhail said as he turned around and continued to type into the console. Then, out of nothing, some small little blue specks began to appear in front of Shepard. They began to come together, forming a larger figure. Shepard lost his breath, as the figure began to materialize.

"Oh my god," Shepard managed to cough out as he looked onto something that he thought was forever gone. "I thought you died."

"You should have died too," The Catalyst spoke to Shepard. It was still in the figure of the child Shepard saw on Earth. However, its voice was deeper and more ominous than before, much like that of Harbinger's. Shepard still couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I defeated The Reapers," Shepard said, "So I've solved your problem."

"Solved my problem?" The Catalyst remarked, "You've solved nothing human, you've repeated the same mistakes my creator made, and are doomed to the same destiny."

"This cycle is different, and we can live in harmony," Shepard said, "No matter what you may say."

"Tell me Shepard," Mikhail asked, "Why deny the choices The Catalyst offered, why deny the ultimate form of evolution?"

"Evolution is defined by our own progress, not what this AI says," Shepard said.

"You organics are limited by your emotions, and that's why you will never achieve what I offered to you," The Catalyst responded, "However, this organic seems to understand what I offered and truly represents what organics can achieve."

"So that's your plan, to recreate The Reapers?" asked Shepard.

"This cycle is doomed," The Catalyst said, "You will create synthetics and you will die, but I can offer you immortality and maintain life in The Galaxy."

"No, we won't," said Shepard.

"You'll never see logic," The Catalyst said. He evaporated into nothing again, leaving Mikhail and Shepard.

"You know," said Mikhail, "The Illusive Man always knew you would never agree with him, so he kept a lot of secrets from you."

"I know," Shepard said.

"Do you remember the day you found Toombs?" asked Mikhail, "How he talked about he was tortured and he managed to survive the brutal experiments we performed on him?"

"Yes," Shepard said.

"Then I suppose it wouldn't surprise you that there was another survivor from Akuze," Mikhail said.

"Who?" asked Shepard.

"Your best friend," Mikhail smiled.

"Wait... Mason?" Shepard asked. Mason was with Shepard through it all: boot camp, N7 training, and even Akuze. "Where the hell is he?" Shepard asked

"He's working with us right now," Mikhail said, "In fact, he's down on Earth securing The Catalyst as we speak.

"Wait... he knows?" Shepard asked.

"No, only me and you know what you did," Mikhail said, "However, I figured that keeping this AI for myself couldn't hurt." "So, we're down on Earth securing a blue box for it to download onto," Mikhail said as he signaled to be picked up.

"Whatever your planning Mikhail, you won't get away with it," said Shepard.

The Cerberus shuttle arrived, picking up Mikhail. Mikhail stepped into it, waving towards the trapped Shepard. "Goodbye, Captain." Shepard watched as Mikhail sped away, fearing for what the future would hold for him.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, I have been nonstop crying for the past hour and a half. Mainly due to the fact that Mass Effect is now done, forever. However, I feel like I need to get the demon out of me so the chapter after this one is just going to be goony and complete fluff and all that wonderful stuff. But if anyone else feels like I do.

**"Don't cry that it's over, smile that it happened." -Dr. Seuss**

or alternatively

**"There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story." -Frank Herbert**

* * *

So there Shepard stood, caught uncomfortably between two pieces of metal. He could breath easily, but his lower body had gone numb from the lack of movement. Of course, he felt like his whole body was numb.

He had just had several bombs dropped on him a few minutes ago. First, he learned The Catalyst somehow survived. How? He still had no answers after talking to him twice. Perhaps it was fate, or maybe just luck. Either case, it was not good news for him. In that moment, he completely regretted keeping what had happened up there a secret. He knew why he kept it secret, but everything was falling apart around him.

Another bombshell was the fact that his best friend, who he thought was dead, somehow survived Akuze. Frank Mason was with Shepard throughout everything from Boot Camp to The N7 training camp. He remembered how Mason had saved him on Akuze, pushing him out of the way. However, he was now working for Cerberus, his captors. Why? Shepard didn't know, but he wanted to know as soon as possible.

And Finally, the worst of them all, Mikhail and The Catalyst were going to bring back The Reapers. Of course, this task would be extremely daunting to anyone attempting this, but Shepard knew that Mikhail had everything he needed now. The Catalyst created The Reapers, and could do it again if it desired to. Shepard was worried, and rightly so. Who knows what those two could do.

Just then, a few shuttles zipped by Shepard, all of them Cerberus. However, they just kept flying by, not even hesitating to stop. They were heading towards Earth, for some unknown reason. However, it seemed like utter suicide to go to the most defended planet in the known galaxy. At this point, Shepard was more focused on getting free from his position. He struggled and struggled, but couldn't budge loose.

Eventually, Shepard managed to break off one of the sides after banging on it for quite some time. He fell down onto his side as the plate was forced loose. Shepard got up and turned around. He began to walk towards the way he came in. Another shuttle came right by him and slowed down. It was an Alliance shuttle and it began to open its door.

"Shepard!" shouted Ashley from inside the shuttle. Inside was Ash and Miranda along with a couple other soldiers. Shepard ran towards them, leaping up into the shuttle. He holstered his gun and turned towards Ashley.

"What's going on?" asked Shepard.

"Cerberus is heading for Cairo," Ashley said.

"Cairo?" Shepard asked, "What the hell's in Cairo that's making it a target?"

"Besides the normal government buildings, not much other than The University," Miranda mentioned as she typed some things into her Omni-tool.

Shepard then realized why they were going to Cairo. It was for The Egyptian Institute of Advance Sciences and Advanced Engineering, or what was in it. He recalled Traynor talking about how the institute had one of the last working AI cores in the galaxy. And that's what Mikhail needed, the AI Core. With it, he could transfer The Catalyst into the core and take it with him.

"Shepard...what's wrong?" Ashley asked, "You seemed distracted."

"It's just," Shepard tried to come to the right words, "I learned something that's bothering me."

"What?" Ashley asked.

"It's, uh, It's about my friend...Mason," Shepard said.

"The one who died on Akuze?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, he's alive," Shepard said.

"Alive?" Ashley posed, "How?"

"I don't know, but apparently he's working for Cerberus right now," Shepard said. He was grabbing his hands and nervously messing around with his fingers.

"Don't worry Shepard," said Ashley as she tried to comfort him, "We'll get everything answered as soon as possible." She looked at Shepard, who was seemingly a nervous wreck right now. She loved him and was worried why all of this was happening and hoped he would get the answers he desired.

"We're approaching Cairo right now," the pilot said as the shuttle buckled as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Shepard grabbed his rifle, priming it for combat. The shuttle slowed down and began to land.

"Get ready," the pilot said as he put the shuttle down. The shuttle landed and opened its door, the light pouring into the shuttle. Shepard and the crew stepped out into the hot Egyptian sun.

They were in the middle of a street of Cairo. They were in the slums, a thick fog of smog filled the air. The building were all ruin down, stacked on top of each other like cages. The windows were all flung open and they had everything from clothes to fans on the window still. The streets were deserted and only the sound of fighting in the distance could be heard. Shepard looked around the streets. A few cars were parked in the streets, but they were all intact. There had been no fighting in this area, but he knew it was close by.

"Where's Cerberus?" asked Shepard to Miranda.

"The fights a couple blocks ahead," Miranda said, "There trying to build a stronghold at the university."

"Confined area with plenty of buildings, makes sense," Ashley said as the group began to walk down the street. The sounds of gunfire were still in the air, echoing across the empty corridors of the buildings. Shepard looked up, a few people were looking out at them, one of them recording them on his Omni-tool. Shepard tried to ignore it, knowing that making a spectacle of these things wouldn't help anything.

Then, a women came running down the street. She was yelling in an panicked tone, and running towards one of the buildings. She started banging on the door, yelling, "Let me in!" The door whooshed open and the lady tumbled inward and shut the door. The group continued to walk down the street. Shepard looked down an ally way, seeing something that he had never seen before. There were hundreds of cats, all of them congregating and fighting over something.

"What the hell?" Shepard said quietly to himself.

"There's a lot of cats in Egypt, it's like a rat problem for them," Ashley responded.

"Really?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah, they often go on a killing streak once a year to try to get rid of all of them," Ashley said.

"They can't just adopt them or something," Shepard said.

"Sure," sarcastically responded Ash, "Adopt the flee ridden, rabies infected, dirty cats."

"I get it," responded Shepard.

The group eventually came upon the front lines. There were several tents set up, nothing too serious to assemble. Underneath was everything from the wounded to spare ammo. The troops were mainly doing reconnaissance, along with the gunfire. There was a large bridge, crossing the river that separated The Alliance and Cerberus at The University. The gunfire had seemingly calmed down within the last few moments. Shepard approached a large table underneath the tents, seeing a familiar face.

"Shepard," Admiral Hackett said as the group approached.

"Hackett? What are you doing Here?" asked Shepard.

"I was actually here on Earth when the attack started," he responded, "Figured I take a head on approach with Cerberus this time."

"Good," Shepard said, "Maybe we can finally get Cerberus."

"Doubtful, but we have the opportunity to make a large impact," said Hackett as he pulled up some holographic interfaces from the table. "We have word that Claire Medford is at The University, more than likely to make a grab at the technology there."

"What's there?" asked Miranda.

"Everything from new energy source development to real-time communication technologies," Hackett responded, "A lot of the funding to this school is Military based, so you can only imagine what Cerberus could do with these projects."

"So what's the plan?" asked Shepard.

"They're holding hostages, everyone from students to teachers," Hackett said, "Including Specialist Traynor from The Normandy."

"They're holding Traynor?" asked Ashley, "Where is she?"

"She's more than likely in the main labs of the campus, but that's just an educated guess," said Hackett to Ashley. "Right now, we are working on a plan to ensure the safety of the hostages."

Shepard walked away from Hackett, looking outward at the campus.

The college was relatively new, especially since The Reaper Invasion, but it had an architectural style similar to that of Roman-Greek styles. Overall, the school more than likely cost a lot of money to attend, Traynor would fit in there among the intellectual crowd.

"Shepard," Hackett said, "There's something you should know."

"What?" asked Shepard.

"There's an N7 among Cerberus," Hackett said as he pulled up a picture taken of Mason. He was wearing a full suit of N7 armor, with a large Cerberus logo burned onto the chest. He was wearing a helmet, so Shepard couldn't see his face, but he knew that it was Mason.

"It's Mason," Shepard said.

"Who?" Hackett asked.

"Frank Mason," Shepard said as he brought up a picture on the table. It was of both Shepard and Mason, around their early twenties. The two had saved heads and were just out of boot camp, and celebrating. "Mason and I completed N7 training together, I was on Akuze with him... I thought he died."

"And he's back?" Hackett asked.

"Just like Toombs," said Shepard, "I guess Cerberus was doing more experiments than I thought." "I just want to talk to him, figure out why he's working with his captors right now."

"Stockholm Syndrome," said Miranda, "Hostages, over the course of extremely long period of time, will agree with their captors motives."

"Maybe I can talk to him," said Shepard, "He could be a valuable asset to The Alliance."

"Either Case..." Hackett began to say, just as a bullet flew past them. I hit the table, sending a large explosion of sparks into the air as the group flinched backwards. Shepard turned to see where the bullet came from. It was from a sniper rifle from across the river, the gunman laying down in the grass. Shepard looked closer, and realized something. It was Mason. He was still in his armor with the helmet, but Shepard knew.

Shepard immediately ran up to the river, ignoring the people that tried to stop him. He looked across, seeing the figure begin to get up. Shepard just stood there, staring at him. Mason got up, now aiming his gun at Shepard. Then, suddenly, the gun simply fell from Masons hands. Mason stepped forward also, simply staring across the river as well.

The two stood for a minute or so, just looking at one another.

"Mason," Shepard thought, "Why? Just surrender so we can talk." Shepard raised his hand, waving at Mason. Surprisingly, Mason also raised his hand, waving back at him slowly. The rest of the group was watching the two, amazed at the two warriors simply looking at each other. Mason slowly backed up, turning around to head back inside the building.

"Shepard," Ashley asked as she approached Shepard from behind, "You okay?" she softly said.

"Yeah," Shepard managed to squeak out, "It's him."

"We'll get the answers, trust me," Ashley said as the two turned around. "Let's just get ready for the assault.

"I know," Shepard said. He was completely absorbed by thoughts, "Why?" is what was prominent in his mind at the moment, "why?"

"You know Shepard, you looked better without the goatee back then," said Ashley.

"Shut up..." groaned Shepard.

* * *

"Please don't kill me!" the man pleaded with Cerberus troops, "Please!" A gunshot rang throughout the lab as a bullet flew through the teachers head. This was the main laboratory, the room filled with millions upon billions of credits of engineering technology. On the walls were detailed blueprints along with various projects throughout the room. At the far end, was an extremely large machine that house a small metal case no larger than the average laptop.

Traynor was hiding behind one of the tables, trying not to be heard. A couple of tears were rolling down her face, hitting her hands which were covering her mouth. What was a normal day had now just become a nightmare. Cerberus had barged into the building shooting everyone they could see and now were hunting for anybody else they could find. She overheard them talk.

"Area secured sir," one of the troops said as someone entered the laboratory.

"Good," the man said as he looked around. "This place is amazing."

"Yeah Mason," a woman said, "It's more amazing if you realize what half this stuff is."

"I haven't seen this kind of technology since my time at The Villa," he said. Traynor tried to be as quiet as she could, hearing a pair of footsteps coming closer and closer to her.

"Wait a minute," the man said. Traynor had never felt more terrified in her life, even after her time on The Normandy. She was pushing on her mouth as hard as she could, not letting one sound out of her lips. Then, as quick as lightning, the man grabbed her arm and jerked her up. She screamed, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Please, God No!, I'll give you anything you want!" Traynor pleaded, "Pl-ea-eeease!"

"Shut Up!" one of the troops yelled, "I'm so sick of you people pleading for your life!"

"Shhh," said the man. He was in N7 armor with a big Cerberus logo on it. "I'm not going to kill you." Traynor was still crying, trying to get free.

"Where's the core?" asked Mason to Claire as she was looking at the big machine at the end of the room.

"Right here," Claire said, "But it's locked."

"I need you to unlock it," Mason said to Traynor, "Please."

"No," she cried, "I won't help you," she was shaking violently and was scared out of her mind. Mason took a breath, then slammed her down onto the lab table she was hiding behind. Traynor cried out, but Mason held her down as she squirmed about.

"Alright, listen up," Mason yelled, "You're gonna unlock that machine so we can get the core, or else," Mason said as he pulled out a large knife and held it to Traynor's head, "I will kill you, cut off your hands and proceed to harvest your corneas to ensure I can unlock it."

"GOD NO!" she screamed, "I'll unlock it, just let me go!" Mason let her go, still holding the knife at her. She ran towards the machine, typing in the code as fast as possible. She quickly scanned her hands and eyes to confirm her identity.

A voice chimed in from the machine, "Doctor Traynor, Communications Specialist, Access Granted." The force field guarding the case opened and revealed the AI Core in all its glory. A dark blue light gleamed outward from the core, encasing that part of the room.

"Okay, It's unlocked, Can I please go home," Traynor cried out to Mason.

"No," he said. Traynor began crying again, exclaiming, "Please let me go, please!"

"For the love of fucks sake, just SHUT UP," Mason said as he grabbed Traynor's head and slammed it as hard as he could onto the machine. Her body became limp and just fell to the ground, blood began pouring out of her nose.

"Mason, it's gonna take a few minutes to begin the transfer process," Claire said, "And a few more in order to remove the AI core."

"Then What?" asked Mason, "What's our exit strategy?"

"Mikhail is working on that," Claire said as she typed a few things into her Omni-tool, "He's with a few others securing a convoy."

"Figures," Mason thought. Mikhail was all-in-all, a huge coward. He would never show it in public or say it to Mikhail's face, but he was very cowardly. He often avoided direct fights and when he got into fights, he panicked. Mikhail's primarily asset was his mind, which was full of plans and strategies that anyone back at The Alliance would kill for. However, unlike Alliance ideals, Mikhail often threw troops and money at every hair brained idea that he got. He was lucky for most of them, mainly because they were so complex and required fast paced work, these hit and run plans worked so well.

"General Mason," said one of the troops, "We just received word that Admiral Hackett is with The Alliance right now."

"Admiral Hackett," Claire said as she continued to type things into the machine, "His head would make Mikhail happy."

Mason looked at a nearby Nemesis, who proceeded to toss her sniper to Mason. "I'll go kill The Admiral, you work on that AI Core."

"Got it," said Claire as she stopped typing.

"AI Transfer in process, Estimated Time of Completion: Ten Minutes, please wait," the machine said.

"Roger that," Mason said as he headed near the exit. Mason stepped out of the building and looked around. The Campus was deserted and Cerberus held hostages in every other building. Mason kept towards the wall, heading towards the front that Cerberus had place several scouts on, near the river. The campus was very nice, with kinda a Romano-Greek architecture, something which he learned from this guy he fought back at a bar in his early military career.

He got down on the ground once he saw the river, along with The Alliance tents. He crawled slowly across the ground, pulling his gun along with him. He examined The Alliance forces, which made him uneasy. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded. He eventually got to a nice grassy spot that hid him from plain view. He picked up the gun, looking at the scope. He grabbed a small piece attached to the scope, the laser pointer. He didn't want to attract any attention, so he quickly broke it off and pulled the scope up to his eyes.

He looked around the front The Alliance forces, who were all armed to the teeth. He looked around, seeing that The Alliance was ready for either an all out assault or a long siege. He looked around, eventually being drawn to a figure in dress blues. It was clearly Hackett, with his white hair. Mason took a breath and steadied his aim. He fired.

He expected Hackett to fall, along with blood spraying out the other side. However, the results he got were very unsatisfying. The bullet had hit the table that Hackett was standing next to, some sparks flew from it. Mason realized that breaking of the laser must've jerked the scope from its proper position. It was a stupid mistake and Mason knew it. So he knew that he needed to get out of there as soon as possible. He stood up and was ready to run as fast as he could.

He caught a figure running up to the river near his view. Mason picked his gun up, getting ready to fire at the figure. He figured that a simple kill would at least send him back with a kill. Mason picked his gun up and aimed, but couldn't fire. He hesitated, the gun slipping out of his hands as he realized who it was. Shepard.

The Savior of The Citadel, The Lone Survivor, The Savior of The Galaxy, thrice over. He had not seen the man in person in many years. He had read and read and read Shepard's file Cerberus had over and over again. He watched his acceptance speech to The Spectres, every interview that he had done. Yet it still had not sunk in. His friend, someone who was always there for him back in the day, was back. Mason just stood there, staring at Shepard as Shepard stared back. There was no gunfire, and time seemed to slow down for Mason.

Then, out of nowhere, Shepard waved. It wasn't an excited wave in anyway, but was more of a simple "Hi." Mason didn't know what to do, part of him wanted to walk away, but the other wanted to just walk over and talk to him. However, he began to raise his hand. He got it up, and slightly moved it back to say "Hi" back. They stared for a little bit longer, before Mason began to step backwards a little bit. He still felt flabbergasted and he decided to just turn around as quickly as possible.

Mason just jogged away, trying to get back to the lab. He felt an enormous amount of emotions swelling up inside of him. he got back to the doors, and slowly walked inside. He entered the lab to find Claire and the others frantically working to gather as much data as possible. Mason took his helmet off, putting it onto a nearby table. He fell against the wall, still trying to comprehend what he saw.

"Is he dead?" asked Claire.

"No, I missed, the scope wasn't sighted in," Mason said, "I...I saw Shepard."

"Yeah," Claire said.

"You realize what this means," said Mason.

"What?" Claire said.

"I'm going to have to fight him..." Mason said, "And kill him."

"Listen," Claire said as she stepped away from her console, "If you two wanna suck each other's dicks, do it on your own time, but stayed focused!"

"I didn't join up to kill my best friend!" Mason yelled, "I stand with humanity, and humanity alone, but I refuse to kill my friend!"

"Mason!" Claire yelled, "Shepard is the enemy, and these hard decisions face everyone." "So if you wanna leave, then leave, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and cry about your little girlfriend."

"Fine," Mason said as he walked towards The AI Core, "I'll stay..." he looked at the device, which had nearly uploaded the "AI" that Mikhail had found.

"Shepard," Mikhail thought.

* * *

"Shepard!"Ashley said to Shepard. Shepard was sitting down, lost in thought. "Shepard, the Makos are here, were about to begin the raid."

"Okay..." Shepard croaked out.

"Shepard," Ashley looked down at Shepard, "I promise that you'll get to talk to Mason, trust me."

"Okay..." he croaked out again and stood up. He grabbed his Reverent Assault Rifle and got in position behind the convoy of three Makos. The Makos were firing at the snipers planted around the outside of the campus. The groups were ready to head inside of their assigned buildings. The Makos reached the other side of the bridge, then drove into the Campus grounds to secure the insides.

Shepard looked around, seeing troops begin to take point by each building. Shepard looked around, eventually finding the main laboratory. If Mason was anywhere, he would be there. Shepard ran towards that building, seeing that both Ashley and Miranda were there too. Shepard took point by Ashley and asked her, "What's the plan?"

"Shoot the baddies and save the hostages," Ashley said, "Beyond that, not much."

"What if Mason is in there?" asked Shepard.

"I think that N7 armor with a large orange hexagon on it would give it away, so we won't shoot the man," Ashley responded. "Okay?"

"Okay," Shepard said.

Ashley held her hand up, holding three fingers up, then two, then one, and then it happened. The three barged through the doors. Shepard spotted three Cerberus troops, each of them spread across the room, and no hostages. Shepard shot the one at the farthest right, Miranda and Ash taking the ones at the other sides of the rooms. Shepard looked around, seeing the AI Core at the end of the room. Next to it was Claire and...Mason. the two held their guns up and pointed them.

"Mason!" Shepard exclaimed. Mason looked exactly like he remembered, but with the added effect of age.

"Shepard!" Mason yelled. Shepard looked exactly the same as Mason remembered.

"Oh...My God!" Claire said, "We all might as well just leave while you two have sex with each other!"

"Shut Up!" Mason said as he continued to look at Shepard. "Shepard...I...uh."

"Mason, I don't know what to say," Shepard tried to come to the right words, "I guess...uh...I would have to say...Why are you with Cerberus?"

"Cerberus has done more good for humanity than The Alliance has ever done," Mason said.

"Does trying to kill The Council and me include that?" asked Shepard.

"Those were the plans of The Illusive Man," Mason said, "I know that Cerberus has done some shady things, but Shepard, we both know that the ends justify the means." "We were taught that back at The Villa, we've been taught that our entire life. There's a fine line that men like you and I have to cross, and Cerberus is that, it is us."

"It's not," said Shepard, "Cerberus kills civilians, and good men and women that have children." "You're 'friends' are responsible for this whole incident right now, and you think that these means justify whatever ends you'll get."

"Shepard, you think that you haven't torn families apart," Mason replied, "You've killed before, and whether it's some drug dealer or civilian, you're tearing apart someone's love."

"Mason," Shepard cried, "I never meant to hurt you." "If I knew you survived, I would've come back for you."

"I spent the last ten fucking years in a dark cell, with no light other than the sunlight through the small cracks in the wall," Mason said, "I was tortured for information and possibly anything that Cerberus could use!"

"Then why side with them?" asked Shepard, "If these people did unspeakable things to you, then why would you dare join them?"

"the Villa did all of that to us!" said Mason, "And yet here you are." "Is it really so wrong to want the best for humanity?" "When I was set free after all that time, Mikhail came to me and told me about everything that had happened over the past decade." "You became a hero, fighting a rogue Spectre and The Reapers." "Did you know that I was the first choice for The XO position on The Normandy?"

"What?" Shepard said.

"Yeah," Mason bragged, "You were deemed, to emotionally volatile, you're parents death still haunting you to your core." "And I know you, you have so much that haunts you to your core." "You drank, you smoke, hell, you did red sand for two goddamn years of your life!"

"Wait!" Ashley interjected, "You did Red Sand?"

"Yeah..." Shepard simply responded.

"From sixteen to eighteen years old, you went off the chains," said Mason, "That's how I met Shepard, in fact." "I was at a club on Earth, one of those eighteen plus nights were they don't serve alcohol till midnight and then kicked us young kids out." "Shepard was higher than anyone I've ever seen, a depressed child indulging himself in drugs."

"I'm not proud of it," said Shepard, "I was young and depressed, my parents died because I left them, so I wanted to feel better!"

"You got into a fight with this Alliance soldier who tried to arrest you, left you knocked out in the middle of the dance floor," Mason said, "Of course, you shaped up and joined The Alliance, and now here you are."

"Mason... we don't need to fight," Shepard said, "Just put the gun down."

During this conversation, Claire had stepped back and managed to unhook the AI Core and put it in a slot on the back of her white Cerberus Officer armor.

"Mason," Claire said, "We've got everything we need, let's just go."

"I can't let that happen Mason," Shepard said as he tightened his aim on Mason.

Claire tossed the AI Core to Mason, "They won't fire at you, so go!" Mason slowly began to walk towards the exit. Shepard wanted to shoot him, even just wounding him in the leg would've been fine. Shepard couldn't do it, and Ash and Miranda knew that Shepard would never let them take the shot. Then, Mason just left, with the AI Core. Claire pressed a button and then, suddenly, a large force field came up around the part of the building they were in.

"I never thought I would live to see the day that The Great Commander, or rather, Captain Shepard flinch like a bitch," Claire laughed. "So, listen, I gotta go, but I wanna tell you one last thing before I go Shepard."

She approached the barrier, looking straight into Shepard's eyes. "The Alliance's time is over, Cerberus has a plan and we will ascend to the highest mountain top as!" Claire began yelling in a maniac type manner. Then, there was a loud bang. Blood splattered against the barrier as it sprayed off of Claire's head. Her body just fell backwards, slamming down to the ground with a loud thud.

The group looked on as they saw something that they never noticed. Traynor was knocked out on the ground and had woken up. She managed to wrangle up a gun and shot Claire right in the head.

"Oh my god," Traynor said as she got up, "I...I...I..."

"Traynor," Shepard said, "Thank god you're all right!" "Can you please shut down this force field?"

Traynor took a while to understand that command, but she managed to walk over to the button to close the force fields. They shut down, freeing the group to go after Mason.

"Traynor," Shepard said as he approached her. Then, Traynor just started to vomit. It was obvious she had never killed someone before, and it was taking a toll on her. She vomited all over Shepard's armor, Shepard cried out in disgust at what was happening.

"I think," she managed to say before she vomited again, "I have a concussion, GOD I KILLED HER," she managed to say as she fell to the ground.

"I have to go after Mason," Shepard said, "Can you two help her?"

"Yeah Shepard," Miranda said, "Just go get him, and whatever she handed him." Shepard nodded and then took off. He exited the building towards the main part of the campus. There, a huge firefight had erupted. In the middle, Cerberus was getting ready to evacuate who they could. Mikhail was one the shuttle, along with Mason. The three Makos were all in flames and The Alliance was taking fire from snipers. Shepard quickly sprinted as close as he could to the shuttle, which was getting ready to take off.

"Hey Mikhail," Shepard shouted as he raised his pistol. Mikhail looked over and saw Shepard. "I killed your girlfriend!" he shouted as he took a shot. The shot nailed Mikhail right in the left shoulder, causing him to fly backwards into the shuttle. He looked at Mason, pointing the gun at him. However, Mason shot first. A bullet hit Shepard right in the toe, causing him to jump. The shuttle doors close, then safely escaped into space.

"Damn it," Shepard shouted as he tossed his gun to the ground. Shepard continued to take of his armor, throwing it in an angry fashion across the campus. He threw his chest piece on the ground, stomping on it with his good foot. The piece broke, Shepard picked up the N7 piece that had broken off. He tossed his bottoms off two, leaving him in his Alliance casuals.

Shepard started walked away from the college, angrily grumbling to himself. He took his dog tags off, looking at them. He chucked them into the nearby river, yelling as he did it.

"Goddamn it, I need a fucking drink," Shepard grumbled to himself in anger and pain.


	10. Chapter 10

Shepard was walking down the street, a sluggish pace in his steps. He didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do. Everything he knew had completely fallen apart within the past few hours, and it scared the shit out of Shepard.

The Catalyst, Mason, and even The Reapers all were coming back to haunt him. God, he wished that he was still in a coma. He wanted to wake up and everything was just a dream. That he would wake up and everything would be perfect, that none of this had ever happened. Hell, he wished that NONE of this had ever happened.

Shepard imagined what the world would've been like if The Reapers never existed. The galaxy would still have all those lives that were lost due to The Reapers. Millions of families would still have their children, their fathers, and their mothers. Best of all, the weight of every decision, every death, would not ride on his shoulders. All this doubt and guilt, would be gone.

But Shepard remembered the good he did: Curing The Genophage, Creating a temporary peace between The Geth and The Quarians, and ultimately defeating The Reapers. He'd never had traveled to all those places, met all those people, and had all those adventures. Worse of all, he'd never had met Ashley. Their paths might never had crossed if The Geth never attacked Eden Prime, or even if his parents survived. He could still be a simple farmer on Mindoir, married to the girl next door and raising a family.

Even despite this, after all the love he had brought into his life, he still didn't feel any better. They were lives that could be taken, used against him, and it was the most vulnerable part of him. He didn't want anything to happen to Ashley, or anyone of his crew, but he knew that they were in harm's way...because of him.

Shepard stopped in his tracks, looking around. He was next to an old and run down bar, with the soft sounds of some sort of country music being played inside. He looked behind him, the sounds of police sirens and cars whizzing above him from the recent battle. There was still a dark cloud of smoke rising in the skyline, contrasting the dark orange sun of twilight. Shepard was in his casuals, and they were covered in dirt and soot. Regardless of his appearance, Shepard stepped into the bar.

The bar was surprisingly sleek and clean on the inside. The bar had a white florescent light that covered the small bar. Several round tables were placed all around the bar, a few had some seedy inhabitants at the table. There was also the usual long bar at the front. The music was loud, but nowhere near the level of volume of some of the clubs Shepard had been to.

Shepard approached the bar, a limp still in his step from the bullet that skinned the tip of his toe. He leaned up against it, exhaling loudly as he rested himself. He was tired, mainly from the battle, but he was also tired of everything. All this guilt and doubt took both a physical and psychological toll on him. Shepard could sleep on the bar, if it weren't absolutely disgusting.

"What can I get you sir?" The bartender asked him as she approached Shepard. She was dressed in a black tank top that left...little to the imagination. Her hair short and dyed a rich blue along with green highlights. She also had a large tribal tattoo on her face and on her chest, kinda similar to the ones Vega had.

"Gimme the strongest thing you have in the bar," said Shepard.

"Sir, that would be Rhyncol and it would kill you if you took more than one shot," said the lady, "I am assuming you'd rather have the strongest drink a human can safely..." she chuckled. Shepard chuckled too, tapping his fingers on the wooden counter.

"Yeah," he said, "Of course." She smiled, turning around and bending down to get the bottle out of the cupboard.

Shepard didn't mind the view, thinking to himself, "Nice ass...wait, I'm getting engaged," he worried, "But Ash isn't here, so no harm..." Shepard smiled to himself as he wondered off in thought, "Why is it that the women I'm always around have the best asses?" "I mean Ashley, Liara, Tali, Miranda,... I guess that's about it, but still!" He looked up at the lady who was holding a large brown bottle along with a shot glass.

"I'll pay for the whole bottle," said Shepard, "So you can just leave it here." She poured him a shot, the liquid coming out was a dark red.

"What is this?" asked Shepard.

"It's this Asari Vodka-like concoction," she told him as she looked at the bottle, "Venata Esquire," she read. Shepard took a shot, it slid down his throat in a rough manner.

"God that's strong," Shepard coughed. He grabbed the bottle from the bartender, pouring another shot from the bottle.

"So, I take it that you just came from that commotion over there at The University? " The bartender asked as she watched Shepard down another shot.

"Yeah," he coughed up again, "I was passing by and figured I'd blow some steam off here." "You a student over there or something?"

"No," she laughed, "I'm enrolled at a much lesser college a few miles away from here." "I couldn't afford that place if I saved all my money and lived on the street." The two chuckled, as Shepard poured another shot.

"You want one?" Shepard asked as he pointed the bottle at her.

"Sure," she said as she grabbed another shot glass from behind her, "I'm not buying." She poured another shot, grabbing it and clinking it against Shepard's glass as the two did a shot together.

"So," she said as she composed herself after he shot, "You get all the women you drink with wasted?"

"No," Shepard said, "Only the ones I like." Shepard's mind immediately into crisis, "What the hell are you doing?" he thought, "You are goddamn engaged to a women you love and..."

"Well, I wouldn't be lying if I said I wasn't interested," said the bartender, "But I don't even know your name."

Shepard put his face down, realizing what he had to tell her now. "You can call me Daniel," Shepard said, getting out of the obvious Savoir of The Galaxy conversation he would've had with her. "You?"

"I'm Lori," she proudly stated, "And it's good to meet you."

Although he seemed cool, Shepard's mind was racing at a mile a minute, "Okay, just leave, you're in WAY too deep," Shepard's mind was yelling at him, "Just fake something, anything!"

"So how is The Alliance life?" Lori asked, "I figured that with everything that has happened, most people would want to go home and settle down."

"For a career military man like myself, there's little time for settling down," Shepard said, "Or relationships..."

"Must get lonely," she spoke in a flirty voice as she poured another shot.

"Very," Shepard seductively said back.

"Okay, that's enough," Shepard's mind was yelling, "What if Ashley walks in, you are GODDAMN insane and engaged." Shepard's inside were screaming at him to just walk out, but he just couldn't.

"So, tell me, what time do you get off work?" asked Shepard.

"Not until eight tonight, unfortunately," Lori sadly said, "However..." She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and grabbed a pen. "I'll give you my number, and you can call me and we can meet up nearby."

"Great," Shepard smiled, "I gotta get back...The Captain might be wondering where we all wondered off to." She handed him the slip, Shepard put it into his pocket. Shepard took a last shot, then stood up from the bar.

"See you tonight," Lori said as she went off to tend to another patron.

"Yeah," Shepard said as he turned around to leave the bar. Shepard smiled, softly saying to himself, "I still got it." Inside, Shepard was a mess, "Holy shit...what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" "You are engaged and your going on a date...with a girl that isn't Ashley." Shepard left the bar, stepping out into the hot sun.

"Okay," Shepard said to himself as the realization set in. He walked across the street going up to a nearby river. Shepard down at the water, which was slowly flowing southward. He took the piece of paper out, looking at the number.

Shepard looked at the note; reading aloud, "555-0240...Dinner and then my place." "At least she's upfront about all of it," Shepard laughed. Shepard crumpled the note up, then tossed it down into the water. Perhaps he just needed the momentary weakness of single life again, or maybe he was a little drunk; either way, he felt better. Shepard watched as the soggy paper tore apart as it made its way down the stream.

Shepard turned around and began to head back towards The University. It was these moments that Shepard enjoyed the most, the ones where he could forget about all the bad, horrible things he's done and just focus on these petty little things. Shepard looked around as he continued on his walk, the air was crisper and clean and the sky was clear. The battle that had just happened appeared to be gone and everything had returned to normal.

Shepard eventually made his way back to the college, which was still full of people. Most were students who were still getting over the recent attack. They were kids, some were crying while others were calling their family to let them know that they were fine. Shepard noticed that The Alliance soldiers were running in and out of each building, making sure that every last Cerberus troop was gone or dead.

Shepard looked around, trying to find Ashley. He walked around the crowd, trying to find her. He could hear the students murmuring to themselves about his presence, but he didn't pay any attention to them. Shepard headed towards the main laboratory that he was in, the place where he last saw Ashley.

He entered the building, which now had several people all around it. The lab was being scanned and was being sealed off. Most were investigators sent by The Alliance, who were thoroughly examining every inch of the lab. Ashley was in the lab as well, comforting Traynor in the corner. Shepard walked up to Ashley and Ashley. Traynor was a complete wreck, her eyes blood shot from the crying.

"Hey Ash," Shepard said as he sat down next to the two.

"Jesus Shepard!" were the first words that came out of her mouth, "Are you drunk?"

"I had a couple drinks," he said.

"You stink of alcohol and are slurring your words," Ashley said as she waved away the stench of alcohol in front of her.

"Sorry!" Shepard angrily stated, "Sorry that I had to almost kill my best friend and I wanted a little bit of relaxation."

"Getting wasted in the middle of the afternoon on a mission isn't 'relaxation'," she exclaimed, "I've been here trying to calm down Traynor this entire time!"

"Are you okay Traynor?" Shepard asked her.

Traynor was still sniffling, shaking softly as she tried to come to the right words. "I killed her, a real person," Traynor whispered, "I know that you don't think it's a big deal, but I've never really KILLED a person!"

"I know it's hard," said Ashley, "And there's not much I can say to make it better, but just know that I went through the exact same thing."

"Really?" Traynor asked.

"Yeah," Ashley said as she rubbed Traynor's back, "I killed this man on a raid of this pirate base," said Ashley, "I cried for hours on end, and I remember feeling like shit." "It just takes time...like everything."

"Thank you," Traynor said, "I just wish it'd never happened."

"You gonna be okay?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, I will," Traynor said as she continued to take deep breaths. Ashley and Shepard got up, turning away to leave her alone to collect herself.

"What about you Shepard?" asked Ash, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Shepard grunted as he walked out of the building. Ashley was following close behind as Shepard walked towards a nearby shuttle.

"Shepard," Ashley demanded as she grabbed Shepard by the shoulder, "Talk to me."

"About what?" Shepard tiredly groaned as he turned around to Ashley.

"You know damn well what I want to talk about," Ashley responded in an impatient tone, "I'm gonna chalk your attitude up to the fact that your drunk right now."

"For the last time Ash, I just had a few shots to calm my nerves," Shepard pleaded as he turned around and hopped onto The Alliance shuttle. Ashley quickly hopped on behind him, the door shutting behind her. Ashley went up to the shuttle door to the cockpit.

"Sorry, The Captain and I gotta have a private conversation," she said as she closed the door. It was just the two of them now, alone in the shuttle. Ashley was armed to the teeth in full gear and Shepard was in his dirty Alliance casuals.

"Shepard," Ashley said.

"Don't Shepard me in that tone," Shepard responded as he sat down in one of the seats.

"Ugh," Ashley groaned, "You are really starting to piss me off."

"Good, because I'm pissed off that I can't have a moment of silence when around you," Shepard said as he looked at her.

Ashley gritted her teeth, "You really wanna do this Shepard?"

"Why not," Shepard grinned, "We are getting married so, it's best that I tell you how I feel," Shepard exclaimed in a high and mighty voice. Whether or not it was the alcohol or just blunt truthfulness, but that got Ashley pissed off.

"I'm sorry," Ashley said in a sarcastically sad voice, "I'm sorry that I worry about you every night, while you roll around in your sweat soaked nightmares and drink yourself to death most nights!"

"I suggest that you shut your mouth," Shepard said, "and let me deal with my own goddamn demons," he exclaimed as he banged his fist into the shuttle wall next to him.

"Well excuse me for trying to be a good wife and trying to actually communicate with you!" Ashley yelled. "So pardon my tone if I just want to know why your acting like this!"

The shuttle buckled, slowing down as it approached the base near Paris. Ashley and Shepard were still glaring at each other, gnawing at their throats.

Shepard stood up to get ready to get off the shuttle, but was stopped in his place by Ashley.

"We're not done here," Ashley exclaimed as she put her hand out on Shepard chest, keeping him back.

"For the love of God, quit being such a bitch and leave me alone!" Shepard yelled as he pushed her aside and forced the shuttle door open. The shuttle had just landed and Shepard hopped off and headed towards the base. Ashley was stunned and still in the shuttle as Shepard continued to storm off.

"Fuck You!" Ashley screamed as she got off the shuttle. Shepard didn't look back as he continued on into the base, ignoring Ashley. Ashley stayed behind, still boiling over with anger. Shepard continued on into the building, heading to the nearest elevator he could fine. He found one, then proceeded to head back to his room, alone and angry.

Shepard quickly paced down the hallway, trying to find his room. He eventually found it, typing in the unlock code as quick as possible. However, he kept mistyping the code in his fit of anger. He got the right code in, the door opened as Shepard stormed in.

He violently kicked his boots off, they hit the nearby wall with a loud thud. He walked up to the nearby miniature bar that was in the room. The room smelled like lilacs, or something similar, from the recent cleaning. He ripped open the door to the cabinet, looking for something to drink. There were a lot of empty bottles which he hadn't yet thrown out. In the way back, was a full bottle of whiskey that Shepard had somehow missed. Shepard yanked it out, then proceeded to slam the door shut.

Shepard ripped the top off of the bottle, chugging down a couple shots straight from the bottle as he headed out to the balcony. He stepped out of the room, a soft and cool wind hit him as he exited. Paris was just getting dark and the lights were just coming on. Paris was a beautiful city, even after the war. He could see for miles on end of nothing but this romantic culture.

"Goddamn it," Shepard murmured to himself as he took another swig of whiskey. He was leaning on the railing of his balcony, overlooking Paris. He continued to drink, thinking to himself, "Freaking Ashley," Shepard thought, "Can't see just realize that I want to be left alone." Shepard took another drink, coughing a little bit back up from the large amount he drunk. "I guess that it's not her fault," he thought, "She just wants the best for me." "Today has not been a good day for me, almost cheating on Ashley and now fighting with her...what's wrong with me?"

Shepard looked down, watching the people down below him. All of them on their own ordinary business, unaware what Shepard went through today. Almost killing a friend who he thought was dead, rediscovering another person he HOPED was dead was alive, and once again losing Mikhail. It endlessly pissed Shepard off and he needed to vent. Shepard continued to drink as he went and sat down in one of the nearby chairs.

"Maybe I was too hard on Ash," Shepard said to himself, "She's a tough girl, she'll get over it." Shepard was getting rather wasted right now, taking another gulp from the bottle. "God damn this chair is comfy," Shepard slurred as he laughed to himself. "Why the hell am I getting married?" he asked aloud, to no one there, "Sure, I love Ashley!" "But, I could be getting sooo much tail right now!" "I could have that hot bartender chick and an Asari, naked, right here on this patio!" He giggled at the dirty thought. "Instead, I'm limiting myself to one woman...for the rest of my life..." Shepard was conflicted, "Maybe I'm over thinking it," Shepard thought, "Or maybe I'm drunk," he said as he lifted up the now empty bottle.

"How long was I here for?" he drunkenly pondered aloud as he looked around, "And where the hell is Ashley?"

"ASH!" he groveled as he fell out of his chair. "Damn..." he slowly stated as he stood up. Shepard took a couple more steps forward, trying to maintain his balance. "Nope, going down!" he shouted as he fell down again. He crawled across the floor, trying to find his way to his bed.

"My bed is up. the. stairs," he said aloud as he finally found his way to the stairs. "Shit!" he cursed as he put his head down onto the ground. He could sleep right there, on that cold hard floor, but then again, nothing beats the soft embrace of his bed.

"Bed," he choked up as he began to climb the stairs on all fours. He was giving his all, everything he could spare, to climb a flight of stairs about half a story. Eventually, after many grunts and aches to get up those stairs, he conquered it. Almost unable to get to his feet, Shepard launched himself onto his bed, still fully dressed. He curled up underneath the covers, warming up as he got increasingly sleepy.

"I'll wait till Ash comes back to bed," Shepard yawned, "Oh wait...she didn't come in..." Shepard felt overcome with sadness that he had driven her away. He missed her touch, her smell, everything about her. It had a calming effect on his body during the nights. "I'm sorry," he managed to spit out before he fell into a deep sleep.

Shepard awoke to the sound of his alarm. After a night of heavy drinking, that alarm sounded like hell on Earth to him. Shepard groaned as he rolled over to shut the alarm off. He hit the alarm as hard as he could, shutting the alarm clock off. He sat up, leaning up against the pillow he was sleeping on.

"My head," Shepard moaned, "What the hell did I do last night?"

Then everything hit, everything that had happened yesterday. However, what he remembered the most was what he did to Ashley. He remembered yelling at her, calling her names, and just being a general asshole around her.

"Shit," Shepard said as he began to remember every word he said, "Ashley," he realized as he looked around. She was nowhere in the room and Shepard took off from the bed. He stunk of day old sweat and dirt, but he ran immediately to the door. Shepard opened the door, running down the hallway to Ashley's room.

Shepard typed in the code that was assigned to Ashley's room, worried about what he did to her. Shepard ran into Ashley's room, looking around to see where she was. He checked everywhere, even the bathroom, but Ashley was nowhere to be found. Shepard then looked around her bedroom again, for signs if she came in last night.

Her bed was made and was undisturbed, so she didn't come back to her room that night. Shepard checked for a note, or some sign of where she went. Her clothes were still in there, but they appeared to have been moved around a bit, maybe by Ashley.

Shepard walked out of Ash's room, looking around the hallway for her. He went back to his room, still hoping to see where she went. Shepard entered his room, looking around to see if she had come in last night. That's when Shepard noticed the blinking light on his personal terminal. He ran over to it, checking to see if it was Ashley. It was Ashley and it was a video message.

Shepard couldn't see where Ashley was, but it appeared to be on a shuttle of some sort. She had been crying, the redness of her eyes and sniffles still prominent around her face.

"Shepard," she managed to say, "I...I don't know what you're going through, but I know that I can never understand it." "I'm going to my sister's place for the next couple of days, just to let you recover." "I...I don't know if we should get married or if we can ever be married, but I'll be in contact...I love you."

And there it was, the two were apparently done. Shepard's heart was completely broken, the women he loved was gone. Shepard sat back on the couch, sinking into his seat as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Shepard put his hands to face, "No, no, no, no, no," he repeated to himself as tears began to flow. He wanted to take it all back, every last word. He loved her, more than anything in the world and Shepard drove her away.

* * *

Over the next few days, Shepard tried to get in contact with Ashley. He sent her countless emails and video messages, anything he could try he tried. Shepard dealt with countless meetings and training exercises filled his days. However, they could in no way take his mind off of Ashley. He didn't know where Ashley was staying, and Shepard didn't go track her down, because he knew that they needed some space to think. Eventually, Shepard felt like Ashley would never come back, so he almost lost all hope. He stopped drinking, feeling sick from the recent binge drinking that he had taken part in.

It had been about a week since Ashley left, and Shepard was still depressed. He had no contact from her and still was sending her messages. Shepard was sitting on his couch, watching the daily news and drinking a bottle of water. Shepard wondered about where Ashley was and what she was doing right now, it was a thought that crossed Shepard's mind more than once a day. That's when Shepard heard a knock at the door, jumping off the couch at the sound of the knock. Shepard rushed to the door, stopping to calm down if it was Ashley.

He tried to sound nonchalant, "Whose there?"

"It's me," a soft feminine voice came from behind the door. It was Ashley, and Shepard couldn't have been happier. He, opened the door, revealing Ashley. She was dressed in a dark hoodie, and had some jeans on along with some boots. She was wearing a small sheet of makeup on her face, which really highlighted her features in Shepard's opinion.

"Shepard," she softly stated, "We...need to talk."

"I know," he whispered as he let her into the apartment. She walked over to Shepard's kitchen counter, sitting down on one of the stools.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Shepard asked, "A glass of water?"

"No," she softly said as she put her hands together. Shepard walked up to her, sitting down next to her.

"Before you say anything," Ashley said, "I got all your messages."

"Oh," Shepard replied.

There was a long period of silence, the two just looking into oblivion as they tried to come to the right words.

"I don't really know what to say," Ashley said, "I know that you're sorry and I know that you love me, but you really hurt me back there."

"I know," Shepard sulked into seat, "And I know that I, in no way, deserve your forgiveness."

"Just tell me why," Ashley turned to Shepard, a tear forming in her eye, "Why can't you just talk to me," her voice cracked.

"Throughout my entire life, I've lived with my own demons," Shepard managed to say as he watched Ashley wipe the tears from her face, "Everything I've ever loved has died a horrible death, and I've faced it all alone." "But now, I've finally got people who love and care about me in my life again; and honestly, I'm afraid." "I don't want anything to happen to you, or anyone else, so I keep people distant."

"I remember the day you died," Ashley responded as Shepard paused, "We all sat on that icy planet for a few hours, trying to send an SOS out to anyone who could find us." "I snuck off from the group, and I remember crying until I couldn't cry anymore." "I remember feeling absolutely dead inside when the held the memorial service, people filling up that empty coffin with Alliance memorabilia." "It was the hardest time of my life, and if it weren't for both my family and the crew, I never would've pulled myself out of my apartment," Ashley started to cry as she looked at Shepard's watery eyes, "And I don't want to be you, I wanna be with you through the good and the bad." "Whatever you are going through, I will always be there for you," she wiped the tears from her face, "You don't need to drown your sorrows in an entire bottle of vodka or isolation; cause you can always confide anything in me."

"I'm sorry I never told you about the red sand," Shepard managed to say, "It's something I'm not proud of, and it was so long ago." "I got into a really dark place for a couple of months, and dealt with some shady people." "After I sobered up from that night he mentioned, I saw an Alliance official near me, he was typing some things into a nearby terminal." "The way he looked, he acted, and just his presence made me feel better, like I had found what I was supposed to do with my life."

"Shepard..." Ashley whispered, "I'm just glad that you got better, and that I met you." "I love you."

"I love you," Shepard said as he cracked a smile.

The two were both crying, but they had a smile on your face. Shepard leaned over, hugging Ash as the two held each other. There were no more words to be said, because everything that could be said had been said. Even despite everything that had happened, Shepard and Ashley forgave each other.

"At least you cleaned the place up," Ashley blurted out.

"I've kinda sobered up these past few days," Shepard said.

"Shepard, you don't have to become one of those straight-edge guys," Ashley laughed, "I just said you don't have to get wasted every night."

"Only on the Holidays...and when your family comes to visit," Shepard said with a straight face.

"Shut up," Ash said as she kissed him.

* * *

The next few weeks, were very busy for the two. Despite having almost called of their wedding, they still went on with the normal plans. They met with people, visited places, and did all the normal things that couples planned on doing.

The two were on a leisurely stroll together, going to a local cake shop to examine their wedding cake. Shepard was dressed in his N7 hoodie, along with his Alliance bottoms. Ashley was dressed in a red tank top along with tan cargo pants. They were holding hands, getting along really well that day.

"So, we'll go check out this cake and?" Shepard asked.

"Then, I'm going to meet my sisters in New York, there picking out their dresses for the weddings," Ashley said.

"I can't come along?" asked Shepard.

"I let you see me try on wedding dresses," Ashley said.

"And it was a beautiful dress," said Shepard, "Despite the cost..."

"And I know that you really enjoyed it, but I don't think that my sisters would want my husband-to-be watching them try dresses on in their underwear," Ashley replied.

"Unless you want me to," Shepard said, "It is your wedding after all!"

"Shut up," she laughed.

"And what am I suppose to do while the four of you are of in New York for the rest of the day?" asked Shepard.

"Let's see," Ashley chimed in, "You're in Paris and The Citadel isn't even ten minutes away and you can't figure out what to do?"

"I get it," said Shepard. The two continued to walk until they found the little shop they were looking for. It had a beautiful background with an assortment of cakes arranged in the window. They stepped inside, a bell ringing as they entered. They bakery smelled absolutely marvelous, after all, it was a place that made cakes.

A man walked up to the counter, greeting the two, "Welcome, what can I get for you?"

"Hi, we spoke earlier," Shepard said, "Shepard, I've got an order placed for my wedding in two months."

"Ah, yes, Shepard," the baker said, "Of course, I don't have your cake made, but I do actually have a cake that's pretty much the same as the one I'd be making for you two." The baker ran off, wheeling in a large wedding cake. It had three large circular layers, each had a design of frosting flowers and vines around the white frosting base.

"It's beautiful," Ashley said as she looked at it, "and this is for human consumption?"

"Yes," the baker replied, "I do know you ordered another cake for Turian consumption," he said, "But that one won't have the little couple up there," he said as he pointed at the bride and groom figurine on top of the cake.

"If our cakes are anywhere near the caliber of this one," Shepard exclaimed as he looked over the cake, "Then the reception will go perfectly." Shepard went over and shook the man's hand, "Happy to do business with you."

"Of course sir," the baker said as he grabbed the cart and wheeled the cake into the back.

"God, That cake looks sweet," Ashley said to Shepard as they approached the counter.

"Probably nowhere as sweet as you," Shepard graciously replied to Ashley.

"Okay, new rule, if we are getting married, no more of these lame one liners...please," Ashley begged.

"You love it," said Shepard, "Just like you'll love my new dance moves for our wedding."

"Oh my god," Ashley groaned, "You're going to make a complete mockery of yourself."

The two stopped as the baker came back up to ring up their order. "So, I take it you'll be paying right now?" he asked

"Of course," Shepard said as he typed a few things into his Omni-tool. The transaction was complete and Shepard bought them two, very expensive, wedding cakes. The two left the shop, Ashley leaning against Shepard as they walked down the street.

"Getting back to what I was saying," Ashley started up again, "If I have to tie you down in your chair, I will!"

"So no bride and groom slow dance?" Shepard asked.

"Fine, you get that dance," Ashley said, "But if I see you," she said as she got away from Shepard to do his dance. She moved her arms back, swaying back and forth in an awkward manner that Shepard danced in, "doing this, you're dead."

"I don't dance like that!" Shepard exclaimed.

"Coming from the man who didn't realize how much he said 'I Should Go' in his everyday life?" Ashley laughed.

"I still don't believe that," Shepard said.

Ashley turned in front of Shepard, giving him a quick kiss. They were standing in front of their car, which was a cheap buy. Ashley unlocked it as she turned to get into it.

"Well, I gotta go to New York, but I'll see you tonight," said Ashley, "And remember, you're in charge of dinner tonight."

"So take-out?" Shepard asked.

"No, real food," Ashley said as she closed the door. Shepard shrugged, waving to her as she took off. Shepard turned around, realizing that he had the entire day to do whatever he wanted. He looked around, taking in the French atmosphere. He noticed that they were next to a park, so that's where he decided to go.

The park was nice and calm, a gentle breeze blew through the trees. The sounds of the birds during the spring filled Shepard's ears. They zipped overhead, chasing their mates around. Shepard took a seat on a nearby bench, located in front of a magnificent fountain. It was clearly of the renaissance era, a large sculpture of lady placed on top of the pedestal in the center of it. The sounds of running water collided along with the birds, creating a harmony of peace for Shepard.

Shepard closed his eyes, taking in everything he could. He could smell and taste all of nature. Shepard opened his eyes, watching the running water shooting out of the fountain in streams. He felt it was rather hypnotic, like most running water. I guess it was just beautiful to him, watching this liquid force acting so peaceful.

Then, almost instantly, something broke the entire mood. A child, no more than the age of five or so jumped into the fountain. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans that were completely soaked, and was throwing water all about the place. A man and woman ran up to the fountain, exclaiming, "Jason!"

"Out of the water, now!" the mother scolded the child.

The child stopped in his track, running out of the fountain as quick as possible. "I'm sorry mommy," he softly said as he began to cry.

"Honey," the mom said as she grabbed the child, picking him up and carrying him away, "Shhh," she said as the child continued to cry into his mom's shoulder. The couple walked away, trying to calm their child.

Shepard laughed to himself, "Kids." Shepard crossed his legs, lost in thought. "God, Can you imagine trying to deal with that for your entire life?" "I mean, first you got to potty train them, educate them, keep them safe, and all that wonderfully expensive stuff." "But I guess it's worth it, seeing those little eyes and in those little clothes," Shepard smiled, "My god, Do I want a baby?" Shepard was conflicted and trying to figure out if he wanted a baby.

"I mean, not right now," he thought," I guess down the road a ways would be fine." "I mean Ashley is turning thirty next month, but that doesn't mean that it's too late, not by a long shot!"

Shepard's thoughts were immediately broken by a familiar voice. "Shepard," a man shouted as Shepard turned to see who it was. There he saw Joker running as fast as he could down the pathway of the park. What was Joker doing here and why?

"Shepard," Joker gasped, "I..." He took a deep breath and slowly sat down next to Shepard, "I am out of shape," he wheezed.

"Joker, what's wrong?" Shepard asked.

"It's," he gasped again, "It's an emergency!"

"What happened?" Shepard worried, "Is it Ashley?"

"No time to explain!" Joker energetically stated as he stood up, still wheezing, "Follow Me!"

Shepard stood up, following Joker as the two headed down the pathway. Joker was limping as Shepard slowly walked with Joker's pace. After a few minutes, the two reached the end of the park. There, James Vega was sitting in the driver's seat of a nearby car. Joker rushed towards the car, getting in shotgun as Shepard leaped in the back.

"Go!" Joker gasped as the doors shut.

"Joker, what's going on," Shepard asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"It's," Joker leaned down to grab something. He brought up what appeared to be paper tube with a string at the end. Joker pulled on it, shooting a few streams of confetti onto Shepard's face, "Your surprise Bachelor's Party!" Joker wooed really loud.

"What?" Shepard confusingly asked.

"We're going to a strip club," Joker said, "have some drinks, some dances; the usual!"

"You faked an emergency to pull me out of a relaxing park to go to a dirty strip club?" Shepard exclaimed, "First off, how the hell did you find me?"

"Location Tracker on your Omni-tool, all Alliance models have one," Joker said, "I used yours to track you all the time on missions." "Besides, you're telling me you'd rather sit on a bench, in a park; then go see naked women?!"

"Well, no," Shepard responded.

"Exactly," Joker said.

"So it's us three," said Shepard.

"And Garrus," Joker corrected him.

"So: a crippled pilot, an engaged man, a Turian, and James," Shepard listed, "Are going to a strip club?"

"That hurts loco," Vega said.

"It's on The Citadel," Joker said, "And yes, we are the only friends you have that would take you." "Wrex is busy, you know, being Krogan Emperor; Jacob has a baby, so he's out; Grunt is official banned from The Citadel; and Cortez prefers the company of Vega," Joker turned around to Shepard, "...If you know what I mean." Shepard smiled, rolling his eyes at the comment.

"We are good friends and that' it," said Vega.

"SURE!" Joker said with a wide mouthed smile at Vega.

"So, what does this place entail exactly?" asked Shepard.

"Beer and Boobs!" Joker yelled, "What is not to get about this Shepard!"

"Okay," Shepard said as he looked out the window. The crew was by The Citadel, making a short jump from Earth to The Citadel. "Then let's go have some fun."

"There we go!" a relieved Joker praised. "This place is crawling with every type of stripper, Asari, Human, Turian, Salarian, Hanar."

"A Hanar stripper?" asked Shepard.

"You into that Shepard?" asked Joker, "Cause everything is paid for, in full." "Benefits of being the crew of The Normandy, God Rest Her Soul!"

The crew landed the car in a nearby shuttle bay, exiting as soon as it landed. The three of them walked away, exiting the dark, greasy bay and into a long dark tunnel of florescent lights and ads. They walked for a little bit more, making a few more turns. Eventually, they found there place. It was hide pretty well, but the music and crowd outside gave away its location. There, they found Garrus among the crowd.

"Garrus," Shepard waved as the two found each other. "Good to see you again."

"Of course," said Garrus, "But don't tell Tali that we're here, she'd probably kill me."

"Not if Ash kills me first for being here," Shepard laughed.

"Oh, boo hoo," Joker fake cried, "Our Girlfriends don't want us looking at other women." "This is literally the only excuse Shepard's going to ever get to go to a strip club again...ever!" "So, let's live it up," Joker proudly yelled as he marched through the front door.

"After you two," Shepard said as the followed Joker in.

The inside of the place was really nice. It had a somber blue light to it, along with club music playing. Several women, humans and Asari, were up on the stages throughout the place dancing. Most were in dressed in bikini type clothes, with the exception of one of The Asari being fully naked, which solved some of the questions Shepard had about Asari anatomy. Joker eventually led them to a table in the back of the club, taking a seat at it.

"So," Joker said, "I'm gonna go get us some drinks and a stripper!" Joker ran off like a school girl to the nearest bar.

"A little over excited?" Vega asked.

"He's just been lonely lately," Shepard said, "Losing someone you love takes its toll." "Besides, I think he's more than happy to be here."

"You know, Turian's don't normally do this kinda things for weddings," Garrus explained, "I guess it's just a human thing to test one's infidelity one last time."

Joker came back with four beers in hand. Handing them out, making sure Garrus got the right one so he didn't accidentally die on them that night. There was an Asari next to Joker, dressed in that common dark strippers outfit that strippers wore all over the clubs Shepard went to.

"This is...whatever her name is," Joker tried to explain, "She'll be giving us a nice table dance tonight and now we can get this party started!" The four toasted and drunk their beers as The Asari got up on the table to dance. She was very, very flexible; Shepard gave her that. The Asari did a split in front of them, leaning way back during it.

"There's something I wish Ash could do," Shepard laughed.

The continued on, enjoying the beers and the dances they were getting. The best part was that all of it was free of course, that and the complimentary dances Shepard was given die to him being the star of the party wasn't bad either. At the time, there was a naked human female and a half naked Asari on their table, grinding against each other in a rough sexual fashion. Shepard had drank a few beers, nothing to serious of course; he didn't want to come home to Ashley wasted, at least after everything that had happened.

"You know," Joker said as he took a swig of his beer, "I never told you this Shepard, but I really wanna tell you it now."

"What is it?" Shepard asked as he watched the Asari wink at him.

"Did you know that Vega here, was planning on asking Ashley out on The Normandy?" Joker grinned.

"What?" Shepard laughed.

"Joker!" Vega chimed in, "What the hell?"

"Lighten up," Joker defended himself, "Shepard doesn't give a shit!"

"I don't Vega," Shepard said, "But... just tell me what your plan was." "I know her best, so I'd be able to tell if your plan would've worked."

"Well, remember how I got her drunk?" Vega said.

"You mean how she got wasted and curled up on the floor?" Shepard asked, "That, was your plan?"

"No," Vega said, "I was gonna make her feel better with my eggs!"

"James," Joker said, "Nobody, likes your eggs."

"You guys haven't even tried them!" Vega corrected them, "I mean, Garrus can't, but still."

"I can't eat them, but they smell and look absolutely disgusting," Garrus said, "That's why everyone told you they would vomit at the party."

"You people wouldn't know quality food if it was cooked right in front of you!" Vega said as he put his hands up in denial, "Oh wait, it was!"

"Anyway, go on," Shepard motioned for Vega to continue.

"Next, I would've asked her to accompany me to The Presidium," Vega said.

"Okay," Shepard said, "Doing well so far."

"I probably would drop a few comments, complimenting her on her muscle build, you know," Vega explained.

The three all groaned, "Muscle Build?" Joker said.

"I'm not even human and I know that that's no good," Garrus exclaimed.

"What? She comes off strong, so I figure she's into that stuff," Vega said.

"Nope," Shepard shook his head," I know she acts tough like that on the exterior, but she's not some adrenaline jockey that's completely self absorbed...like you," Shepard said as he pointed his beer towards Vega.

"Ha Ha Ha," Vega fake laughed, "Anyways, I'd work my magic over a nice dinner at a nice restaurant."

"So the food court at a mall?" Joker asked.

"No," Vega said, "Someplace classy, sit-down restaurant." "Black tie...you know?"

"Women generally love that stuff," Joker shrugged, "So I think it'd work."

"As long as you don't make her show up in a tinfoil miniskirt and thigh high boots," Shepard quietly said to himself as he took another sip of his beer.

"What?" the group said as they looked at Shepard.

"Nothing..." Shepard said, "It's just this thing she said long ago...but really guys, I couldn't be happier with Ashley." "And God knows how many women have flirted with me over the years."

"You mean everyone on The Normandy?" Joker laughed, "Let's see here, you've got Ash, Liara."

"Liara?" Vega asked.

"Are you oblivious?" Shepard asked Vega, "She's flirted with me at any opportunity!" "At first, she was like that shy nerdy girl you found in the library, but then she got all weird over the years."

"Then you got Tali," Joker listed.

"Sparks came onto you?" Vega asked.

"Yeah," Shepard said as he put his hands over his mouth, "Shepard, you are the only person I would ever trust to join suits with."

"She said that?" Vega laughed.

"Yeah, she was a nervous wreck around me," said Shepard, "but she's with Garrus now."

"And we couldn't be happier," Garrus interjected.

"Then, you got Miranda," said Joker, "How you could resist that latex supermodel is beyond my comprehension," Joker said as he looked at Shepard.

"Love," Shepard said.

Joker scoffed at Shepard, "Seriously?" "You turned down on a women who literally shook her ass in front of you at every moment possible!"

"Well, I'm sorry Joker," Shepard said.

"Who else am I missing?" asked Joker.

"Jack," said Shepard, "She was very...blunt about the whole thing." "But to be honest, she scares me."

"She scared everyone," Garrus said, "That's why she stayed in the sub-deck on The Normandy, because she had an explosive temper and lots of weapons."

"Indeed," Joker said, "And I think covers just about everyone Shepard has spent time around."

"Why do I get the feeling if I we're female you'd all be hitting on me now?" Shepard asked.

"The day I live to see a female Shepard is the day The Reapers come back," Joker laughed, "Besides, we all know if you we're female, you'd screwing around with Liara."

"And how do you know that?" asked Shepard.

"I don't, but a man can dream can't he," Joker downed his beer, "A man can dream..."


End file.
